The Darker the Secret
by L0VEisREALx3
Summary: AU Miley left for boarding school with Nick's heart. It's been 4 years and she's back, but Nick is with Alex. Joe's home for the summer too. Everyone has a secret. NALEX MOE NILEY MILEY/OC ALEX/OC and possibly more..? Rating changed to T.
1. Chapter 1: Reunion

**So, I know this wasn't the second most popular in my poll, but I've been working on this one for a while and I'm kind of dying for feedback. I have a few chapters written already, but I'm kind of having writers block on it. ABOUT THE RATING: it could probably be considered T, but I just want to be safe. Well, here goes nothing....**

**"The darker the secret the harder you keep it,  
But it's no victory always running away like I do  
_I always know that I'll come back to you_"  
- **At Full Speed, Jack's Mannequin

**Chapter 1: Reunion**

FLASHBACK

_It was the last week of summer and Miley and Nick were lying in the sweet New Jersey grass looking at the stars. They were fourteen and they were best friends who had just had the best summer of their young lives. Every day was spent at each other's houses or taking trips with their parents (whom were also best friends) to the good old Jersey Shore. _

_Every summer night for as long as they could remember being friends (which was, in fact, forever since they were born just two months apart) they had laid there looking at the skies. At one point their parents used to come out here and point out the stars and constellations to them and they had been entranced. Long after their siblings stopped this tradition, they continued it, mystified and humbled by the heavens. Now the parents sat on the porch talking late into the muggy nights as Nick and Miley lay in the grass still in awe of the stars above them._

_But tonight was different than other nights. In fact, tonight was the night Nick was finally going to tell Miley how he felt about her. He had been in love with her forever it seemed, but he had only just this summer realized it. The way she laughed, the way she talked, the way she loved everyone and everything, the way she just was. It was all that Nick had ever needed in his life. _

_He turned over in the grass and propped his head up on his elbow facing her. _

_"Miley"_

_She turned to him, her beautiful blue eyes meeting with his own and he was lost for a second. He was young, but he knew that if he could just see those eyes everyday for the rest of his life he could be happy forever. _

_"Nick" she said smiling, her pink braces showing. Something she only did around him and her family, around everyone else she was too embarrassed to let those braces show._

_"Miley, I need to tell you something" he said very seriously._

_"That's funny 'cause I need to tell you something too" she said equally serious._

_"You first" he said graciously._

_"No, you. You brought it up"_

_"Okay, me first than" Nick agreed. He had a speech already prepared, but as he looked at her it completely slipped his mind, "Miley, you're my best friend."_

_"Thanks, captain obvious" she said rolling her eyes._

_"No, seriously. I've never had a friend like you ever. And I never want anyone to replace you..."_

_She smiled. Nick had always been kind of shy and didn't really express his feelings like this ever. She knew that he appreciated her, but it was nice to hear him say it._

_"I guess, what I'm trying to say is, Miley, I think, I think I might be in love with you."_

_Her huge blue eyes opened wider if that was possible and she stared at him in shock._

_"Please say something" he begged of her. _

_"I-" she started._

_"Miley!" her father called from the porch, "Time to go!"_

_"One second!" she called back._

_"No, Miles, now. It's almost midnight!"_

_She looked at him helplessly and shrugged her shoulders, they were still young and completely under their parents jurisdiction._

_"I gotta go" she said turning to leave._

_"I'll see you tomorrow." he said walking back with her to the front of the house though the fence where her parents were waiting for her. She gave him a funny look and he saw a flash of a distant emotion cross over her face, but it quickly left her delicate features._

_"'Bye Nick" she said and impulsively gave him a kiss on the cheek before hopping into the car._

_He stood there in the humid air for a long time staring at the darkness her car had disappeared into. He brought his hand to his cheek and it felt very warm. It gave him hope that whatever she was going to say to him before they were interrupted was definitely going to be good. _

END FLASHBACK

Nick sat up suddenly in his bed, waking from a dream that he knew had been a reality.

That was the last time he had seen her. Four years ago. She had left without telling him goodbye. Even now as he thought back to that night, he wondered if what he had said to her had anything to do with her leaving even though he knew that wasn't true.

She had jetted off to New Hampshire to attend a fancy boarding school. It was all part of her obtaining her life's goal: Get into Yale.

Yale was where her parents had met. Yale was where Nick and Miley's parents had met. To Miley it had seemed like a magical place, and if there was one thing that girl wanted she set her mind to it until she got it. She had spent her summers in France working on her accent and fluency and had rarely ever come home. All of it to insure her future at Yale.

For the first year of high school the future had never been on Nick's mind. Nick lived for lazy days spent lying in the grass. He liked playing his guitar alone in the woods and trying pot with his friends. However, somewhere between freshman and sophomore year it occurred to Nick that he might never see Miley again. That thought made him feel very, very lonely and he had spent that week lying in bed getting stoned in his room and blocking out everyone and everything.

He tried to forget Miley, but not even the drugs could chase her out of his mind. She was like a part of him, like an arm or a leg. He couldn't get rid of her.

And then he had another revelation: Yale. Yale was the one certainty in her life. If she wanted to get there, she would. And so Nick picked himself up and got his act together. He quickly shot to the front of his class and had graduated second best. He had received the same early acceptance letter from Yale as Miley had. And after this summer that was where he was headed.

Nick got up and sighed. It was another Jersey summer, which meant another barbeque with his parents and all their friends. Another thing Miley used to be part of. But now Joe would invite people from their old school over and Nick would pretend that he was interested. It wasn't that Nick didn't have friends, in fact he had a lot of friends, everyone wanted to be friends with him. He had managed to stay on the cool side of smart and it didn't hurt that he didn't mind getting buzzed on the weekends as long as he didn't have anything else going on. The problem was Nick hadn't found the same effortless friendship he shared with Miley. And maybe it wasn't possible to find that. They had grown up together; no one could be quite the same as her.

There had been other girls, of course. He wasn't about to go through his high school years without being with anyone. His current girlfriend, Alex, for instance. She had dark hair and dark eyes and a good sense of humor. She liked partying and being in large groups of people. She was pretty and she liked him so he went for it. And he liked her, he really did. But he also knew that this coming fall he would be seeing Miley again and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

Nick got up and tugged on khaki cargo shorts and an orange polo. He looked in the mirror and tousled his curly hair with his hand until it looked just perfectly messed up. He could already hear his parents cooking downstairs. They loved to entertain, they loved people and having large quantities of them over for dinners that they prepared themselves. He strode down the stairs and saw his mom chopping something and his dad making burgers from a huge pile of ground beef. He walked over to his mom and kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good morning.

He then slid out the glass doors that lead into the backyard. Over the years, the Lucas family had installed a pool in the backyard and he found Joe sitting on a lounger wearing ray bans and smoking a cigarette.

"You know, Mom and Dad would die if they saw you smoking" Nick said standing over his older brother.

"Relax, Little Bro," he said, "I'm legal, so what are they going to do about it?"

Joe had always been the one who had the 'I don't care attitude'. It simultaneously made Nick hate him and love to be around him. He was a good boy at heart, but he liked to take risks and he knew that he could charm his way out of anything. He had gone to UCLA for college, but was home because as he put it he "couldn't stay away from a classic Jersey summer" which meant he didn't have enough money to stay in LA and so he was bumming it out at home.

"Sit down" he said gesturing the chair next to him, "Tell Brother Joe all your problems. Any new ladies?"

Nick sat down on the lounger facing Joe.

"Her name's Alex" he admitted resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward slightly.

"Alex Russo?"

"Yeah."

"Nice, she was like the hottest freshman when I was senior. All the guys were dying to get with her." Joe said approvingly.

"Yup, she's, uh, really something," Nick said back.

"You invite her to the barbecue later?"

"Well, duh, Joe. She's my girlfriend," Nick said annoyed already. He had no reason to be annoyed, Joe was just curious about Nick's life as they hadn't really seen each other that much since Joe had gone away for college, but Alex was kind of a tough subject for Nick.

"You tap that yet?"

Nick cringed at his brother's crude language. He knew he wasn't a bad person by any means; he could just be so insensitive sometimes.

"No, man, I haven't 'tapped that' yet"

"Oh yeah you're saving yourself for Miiiiiiley" Joe said dragging out her name, "Still can't believe you got into Yale, bro. Nice one."

"Thanks, I worked hard. I'm going to go see if Mom and Dad need any help, later" Nick said and went inside just to get away from Joe and his nosiness.

However once he got inside his parents waved off his attempts to help them so he decided to go back up to his room and take a nap before the party began.

---

It was barely even dark when everyone started arriving due to daylights saving time. It had always amazed Nick how this time during the winter it would be pitch black, but now you wouldn't even notice it was night until it was past nine.

He was sipping on a spiked coke, wishing it was beer, but that would be too obvious. Although he was pretty sure his parents were aware of what went down. His arm was around Alex's waist and she sipped her also spiked beverage slowly making conversation with the young folk around them. The buzz of the alcohol and possibly the half joint he had smoked before was making him feel slightly detached from everyone around him… and slightly hungry.

There was a commotion at the door as someone new came into the backyard. Nick looked away disinterested and continued to listen to Alex talk about how she was going to LA to become an actress and tried not to roll his eyes at how ridiculous she sounded.

Then Nick heard a name on his ears that made his head turn so fast he almost broke his neck. Instantly he felt sober and alert.

"Miley! So nice to see you after all this time!" his mother was exclaiming throwing her arms around a gorgeous brunette who hugged her back tightly as if she was her own mother.

She was about five foot five, but her legs looked like they went on for miles. They were accented by her short green Juicy dress and her sun kissed shoulders were also on display as it was strapless. White heels completed the look making her legs look even more tantalizing. Her hair was long and curly and cascaded down her shoulders and back, it was chestnut brown with caramel colored highlights. She was so thin she looked like she could wrap her arms around herself, but she still had enough curves to fill out that dress. She had Gucci aviators over her eyes but when she pulled them up onto her head, he could see the blue shining all the way from where he was. She was absolutely perfect.

There was no way that was the same Miley who was his best friend back in middle school. That girl was awkward and unsure of herself and wouldn't be caught dead in a dress. Her hair was always tangled and she had pink braces on her teeth. As he watched her talk her teeth were white, shiny, and perfect, no more braces for her. She had grown beautifully into her features and she looked truly beautiful.

His hand dropped from Alex's waist unconsciously. She looked up at him with her dark eyes and then followed his gaze to Miley. Her eyes narrowed.

"Who's that?" she asked with a tinge of jealousy in her voice.

"That's Miley" he said matter-of-factly. Her mouth formed the shape of a tiny 'O'. So that was Miley. It wasn't as if she hadn't heard stories about her or seen Nick's face when one of his family members brought her up. And now she knew what all the commotion was about.

"C'mon. Let's go say hi" Nick said excitedly heading over to her leaving Alex standing there. She looked at him perplexed and then followed behind him slowly.

As he walked towards Miley her eyes scanned the backyard as if looking for a familiar face. They landed on him and her smile widened. She rushed down the stairs of the patio onto the lawn and Nick quickened his step as well. His cheeks hurt he was grinning so hard.

"Nick!" she cried out and ran into his arms. He wrapped them around her tiny body, his arms almost circling her twice, squeezing her tightly like he never wanted to let go and she squeezed back just as hard.

They had almost forgotten the rest of the world existed when they both heard a tiny impatient cough. They broke away and turned to look at the maker of the sound.


	2. Chapter 2: Jealousy

**YAY UPDATE. Okay, so my spring break started today and I'm going to Mexico for the week soo no updates until then... hopefully though I will get some writing done (while sitting by the pool and tanning with a pina coloda... jealous? :P) so that will mean quicker updates when I get back! Review!**

**Chapter 2: Jealousy**

Alex had her arms crossed as she watched Nick and Miley's little reunion. It seemed to be going on a little too long. Nick had acted like he wanted Alex to come with him, so why did it seem as if he had forgotten she existed?

"Ahem" she said loudly and the both broke apart and looked at her. Silence took over the small group until Miley broke it.

"Hi, I'm Miley," the girl said offering her hand out to Alex. Alex took it and shook it lightly.

"Alex. Nick's girlfriend" she said almost forcefully and slid her fingers in between his.

"Aw," Miley cooed. "That's so cute! I never thought you'd get your act together enough to get a girlfriend, Nick," she joked.

Nick felt himself blushing slightly. He couldn't believe that Miley was standing right in front of him, as grown up and gorgeous as she was. He also couldn't believe that he had a girlfriend at this point. What had he been thinking? It was her, it had always been her.

"Gee, I can't believe you're back" he said flustered, running a hand through his curly hair. He didn't even know what to say or do he was so surprised.

"Me neither," she agreed, "It's been way too long since I've been back here. Between summers in Europe and Christmases in Connecticut with my grandparents I just haven't been able to find the time."

Alex squeezed Nick's hand tighter. She was genuinely worried. She really, really liked Nick. This girl in front of them seemed so sophisticated and adult. Alex suddenly felt silly in her destroyed denim skirt and plain black t-shirt with rubber flip flops from a nondescript store at the mall. She couldn't compare to designer beachwear and summers in Europe, she didn't even have a shore house for Pete's sake.

Nick and Miley continued to look each other over, make small talk and successfully forget Alex existed. Just when Alex had just about had enough Joe walked up to the small group.

"Whoa," he said getting a look at Miley. His eyes raked her body and Nick clenched his hand into a fist. "Who is this?"

"It's me Joe!" she said laughing. Her signature laugh gave it away. He smiled. Of course, he had known who it was. He was just flirting with her, because Joe was after all a flirt.

"Miley?" he asked. She nodded and he pulled her into a hug "Oh, my God. You're all grown up now!"

"Well, you didn't expect me to stay young forever did you?" she said punching him gently on the shoulder.

"No, but wow" Joe said obviously checking her out again. Nick felt his blood boil. If he knew his brother, and Nick would say that he knew his brother pretty well, he was obviously flirting with Miley. Nick's Miley, not Joe's. "Let's go get you something to drink and catch up."

"Alright" Miley agreed and then turned to Nick, "See you around?"

"Of course" he said smiling and then giving Joe a death look that said '_if you do anything to her I'll kill you'_. Nick was confused; Joe and Miley had never been close before. In fact, if Nick could remember correctly, Joe had always found her a little annoying because she talked too much and laughed at everything.

Joe rolled his eyes at his little brother and wrapped an arm around Miley's shoulders guiding her into the house.

Inside Joe lead Miley into the front hallway far away from the backyard and his little brother.

"You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you" Joe said looking her over for the third time that night. He still couldn't believe how much she had grown up since the last time he said seen her.

Miley laughed and grabbed Joe's upper arm.

"Well, you haven't changed at all… always with the flattery" she flirted back at him.

"I can't resist such a gorgeous girl" he replied sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her close.

"Ugh... come on Joe" she said pushing him away. He leant away from her but backed her up against the wall and put an arm on either side of her keeping her trapped.

Joe sighed. "I know, no more, no more. It never happened."

"You haven't told him have you?" she whispered suddenly serious.

"No of course not." he said, his flirty mood gone, "he's my brother for God's sake."

"And it's going to stay that way, right?" she pushed.

"Maybe..." Joe said giving her another look and raising an eyebrow, "if you give me a kiss"

She rolled her eyes and placed a chaste kiss on the side of his face before giving him a cheeky smile and ducking under his arm to escape him.

As he watched her walk away Joe was left with a feeling low in his stomach- a mixture of attraction, guilt and awe towards her. He knew it was wrong to like this girl, the one that his own blood was so in love with, but he couldn't help it, she was irresistible.

Did he love her the way Nick did? No, but he was definitely still attracted to her. He sighed. He knew he could never have her, and she would never have him. She cared too much about his younger brother.

Miley walked past Joe and turned into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe Nick had a girlfriend. She couldn't believe Joe was home. Her stomach gurgled. She felt the familiar feeling in her stomach, and she tried to swallow it back, but she wasn't strong enough. She retched as she moved her face over the toilet.

When she was finished she wiped her mouth with a piece of toilet paper and then rinsed it with some water. She knew that this was a terrible habit, one that she was supposed to have overcome, but being back in this house she couldn't help it.

---

As Miley and Joe walked away from them, Alex turned to look at Nick. He was watching Miley's retreating figure. Alex felt a twinge of worry in her stomach. She knew she had to do something to get Nick's mind off of that girl quick.

"Nick," she said softly, and he turned to look at her. She got up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. After a few moments he responded, kissing her back and she slid her tongue into his mouth. She made out with him for a while before kissing her way to his ear "Let's go downstairs" she whispered huskily and grabbed his hand.

Downstairs meant to the lounge, which meant to the place where Nick and Alex always hooked up at Nick's house. She didn't completely understand why he never brought her up to his room, but she figured it was less conspicuous if they got caught. Nick always tried to be such a good boy, but she knew how bad he could be.

She led him down the stairs until they got to the white leather couches situated around a big screen TV. She pushed him down on to one of them and quickly sat on his lap facing him. She kissed him again and he kissed her back hungrily. She smiled to herself. How could she have thought Nick liked that other girl more than her? He was hers, all hers.

She made her way down to his neck and began to nip and suck at it, kissing the spot that she knew he liked. She knew him. They had been dating almost two years; she was so silly to believe he wouldn't want her anymore. She was fucking Alex Russo. Guys had been after her since she hit thirteen. She felt his hands move lower on her back and then slip under her shirt, she groaned softly.

Nick felt the vibration of her lips and heard her soft groan and he pulled his hands back to his sides and leaned away from Alex.

"What's wrong?" Alex whispered her dark eyes searching his.

"We shouldn't do this" he said pushing her off of his lap and onto the couch next to him.

"Why the hell not?" she asked angrily. Rejection ran through her veins and it made her angry and scared. She was not used to being told no by any boy.

"You know I don't want to have sex with you" he told her evenly.

"Have sex?" she spat out, "That wasn't having sex, Nick. We've gone farther" she challenged his excuse.

"Maybe you should just go home" Nick said sighing and getting up to leave the room.

Big tears welled in Alex's eyes. Nick was the only boy she had ever been with who had ever refused her. It was in his family's morals, he had said. He wasn't supposed to have sex until marriage. At first she had found that charming and sexy, but now it just left her scared. I mean, look at his brother! He was like a walking sex machine. Was it possible that Nick just wasn't attracted to her? She was in love with Nick. She knew it; she had never felt this way about anyone else before in her life.

Could it possibly be that he didn't like her the same way?

As she walked up the stairs to leave the basement her mind floated back to the first time she had seen him at a party way back in sophomore year.

_Her older brother, Justin, was driving her to a party. There were going to be upperclassmen at this party and alcohol. This was what she had always dreamed high school would be like. She got out of the car, nervous and excited. _

_A few hours, and a few spiked drinks later, Alex was feeling awfully woozy. She felt like the room was spinning. Suddenly she felt a warm hand on her arm._

"_Hey, you okay?" a gorgeous curly haired boy was asking her, "You look like you could get some fresh air."_

_Alex was struck by him. His eyes looked kind and they didn't seem to have the gleam of bad intentions that she had seen in other boys. She nodded her head slowly._

_He wrapped his hand around hers and guided her through the party. Plenty of girls shot her jealous glances which did not go unnoticed by her. She smiled smugly at them._

_As she went out into the night air, she instantly felt alert and much more sober. She turned to the boy and then her brain clicked. This was Nick Lucas, the dream boy of every sophomore and every freshman girl. He had even caught the eye of some upperclassmen. _

_He was nice, he had beliefs. He treated girls with respect. He had adorable curly brown hair and dressed like a model in designer clothes his mom picked out. And he was straight. Could it get any better?_

_But he was said to be unobtainable. He never dated girls. Many had tried, but none had succeeded._

"_That better?" he asked her, smiling. She realized sadly that he had dropped her hand and she wished that he hadn't. _

"_Yeah…" she said quietly getting lost in his deep eyes. They were so unlike the uninterested looks she had seen in other boys eyes. He looked honest and mature._

"_You wanna head back in there?" he asked her nodding to the party._

"_No!" she said quickly and then mentally slapped herself, "I mean, no I think I need a little more fresh air…"_

_He smiled knowingly and Alex knew that her mission was going to be to get this boy._

And until now, she had thought that she had succeeded, but all the sudden there was this other girl: Miley. Miley was like a dark spot on her perfect relationship with Nick.

Alex walked down the front hallway to leave. She had no reason to stay here if Nick was mad at her. As she walked to the door she passed the bathroom. She heard the sound of someone getting sick and then the flushing of the toilet. Was it Nick? Was he sick? Then Miley walked out of the bathroom.

Alex looked at her questioningly, but Miley just gave her a small smile and walked in the other direction. What was that about? Miley was definitely hiding something.

---

Much later in the night after all the rest of the young adults had left for more intense parental free parties, Nick was outside standing by the pool. Looking out into the grass he saw a tiny figure wearing green lying in the grass looking up at the skies. He smiled to himself and went down to join her.

Nick laid down next to Miley in the grass and didn't say anything; he just stared up at the stars like they had done years before.

Miley saw him sit lay down next to her, but didn't bother to break the silence. They didn't need to, both of them knew why they were there.

Both of them had huge smiles on their faces as they stared up into the heavens. They were happy that they had both found their way to this spot again.

"I missed this when I was gone" Miley said inhaling deeply and turning her head to face Nick.

"Lying in the grass?"

"No, they have grass in New Hampshire! But no one just lays around in it. It was all about studying up there or about how rich and pretentious you could act. It's all about how perfect you can be. Perfection is what everyone up there is striving for. And they _have _it."

Nick laughed, he couldn't see Miley fitting into that crowd. She was just too down to earth and kind.

"Then what were you talking about?"

"I missed being here with you under the stars" she said quietly and looked back up, the creep of a blush spreading across her cheeks. She was glad that the dark night hid it from him.

Nick smiled, "Me too, Smiley. You were gone too long."

She nodded and they casually slid back into a comfortable silence. Nick pulled a joint of out his pocket and lit it before taking a puff. Miley looked over to him and reached out for it and he gave it to her.

She inhaled deeply letting the smoke inflate her lungs. She held it in as long as possible as she handed it back to Nick. Then she exhaled letting the scent of pot linger in the heavy night air.

"Alex is really pretty" Miley said randomly, feeling looser with the drugs running through her blood stream. She wanted to get their story, but she didn't want to have to ask.

"Yeah" Nick sighed.

"What was that?"

"Huh?"

"That sigh. What was that about?" Miley clarified looking over at him once more.

"Nothing. Alex is great... she's just..." he said struggling for the words to say.

She nodded and accepted that answer. That was good, that meant he wasn't serious about her. Miley hadn't forgotten the last words he had said to her before she left. The first year she was gone she imagined calling him and telling him what she had wanted to say all those years ago, but she knew it was something she had to do in person. And she had never seen him again. She told herself that she was keeping herself busy, trying to get into Yale, it wasn't her fault, this was her future, but part of her was always nagging her about talking to Nick.

"Any boys for you Miss Miley?" Nick teased her.

"Not currently" she replied smartly. There had been boys of course. Lots of them, she was gorgeous after all, but none of them were what she was looking for. The rich, pretentious boys at boarding school didn't do much for her. Except one…

He mimicked her earlier moves and nodded his head.

She reached over in the grass and clasped his hand gently, "I love that no matter what happens in the future I can always count on laying in the grass with you on summer nights" she squeezed him gently.

Nick felt a rush of warmth go through him starting from the point where he was touching Miley. He felt like he was fourteen again and planning out his life with Miley. She was just so beautiful he was left stunned by the sight of her after all these years. She was like an angel to him, perfect in every way.

His mouth felt dry and he knew he should say something, but he couldn't think of words that were true enough without betraying Alex.

"Miley" he started. His mind was racing, all he wanted to do was tell her that it was her, she was the one for him, that they were meant to be.

"Miley!" another older voice called from the porch, "it's time to go!"

She sat up and looked at him apologetically, "sorry they're my ride... I haven't gotten a car yet. There was no need for one at boarding school, déjà vu right?"

He jumped up and held out a hand to pull her up. She took it thankfully and hoisted herself off the ground. He wondered what she meant by her last comment. Did she remember the last time she had left here? Or was she just talking about all the rest of the times this had happened?

"Will I see you soon?" Nick asked the brunette hopefully.

"How about tomorrow?" she asked flashing a smile, "that soon enough?"

"I guess that's adequate" he joked, "When should I expect you?"

"I'll stop by on the way home with my new car, okay? Give me your number and I'll call you"

She handed over her iPhone which had been stashed in her dress. He felt the warmth of her skin on the metal and felt a tingle when he realized that he had basically been a step away from touching her himself.

He pressed his digits into the gadget and saved it under Nick. It vibrated in his hand and he looked down on the screen.

NEW MESSAGE FROM AARON: hey baby girl, glad you made it home okay. Call me later. Love you.

Nick was confused. Miley said she didn't have a boyfriend, who was this guy? But Nick showed no sign of deception as he handed it back to her. She smiled up at him and Nick forgot anything had gone wrong.

Then he gave her a hug goodbye and she ran off into the dark.

That night he dreamed of Miley lying naked in the grass under him, but as he bent down to kiss her she morphed into Alex and she grabbed him pulling him down and kissing him fiercely. As he tried to pull away she just held on tighter. Nick woke up suddenly, covered with sweat and unable to get the image of Miley from his head.


	3. Chapter 3 : Memory Lane

**My laptop is being kind of weird, so if my updates get slower, you'll know why :) this is pretty much my favorite story that i'm writing right now, i changed the rating for now... i think i'm kind of liberal when it comes to these kind of things though, so if anyone finds anything that should be rated M (now or later) let me know.**

**Chapter 3: Memory Lane**

Miley wandered around the show room of the car dealership she was in. Her dad was talking to her about the perks of certain cars, but her mind wasn't on his droning.

No, her mind was on a boy. Not just any boy: a curly haired boy who she had grown up with, to be exact.

She hadn't expected him to look so grown up last night. She still imagined him as the little goofball with long messy hair that got in his eyes and a crooked smile. But when her eyes met his for the first time in two years she was shocked.

He was taller, obviously, and more muscular than the last time she had seen him. Her parents had informed her that he had been on the Cross Country team and the Varsity Baseball team since his sophomore year. Impressive.

Even more impressive, she had discovered that he had also been accepted early into Yale.

Oh, Yale. Yale was the goal of her life since she was about ten years old. As a child she was mystified by her parents' tales of the green lawns and everlasting love and friendship they had found there. At the time, it had seemed like the only place to go.

He knew that. He had once known everything about her and the fact that he had gotten into Yale too was what was troubling her mind. She knew it would be conceited to think that he had only applied because he knew she was going to be there, but she could hope. Either way they'd be spending the next four years together.

Suddenly she saw a car and she needed to have it. It was a black sedan with beige interior. It was sleek and sophisticated, exactly was Miley was looking for.

"Dad!" she said interrupting his lecture, "This is the one" she breathed.

He eyed it and then the price tag.

"Please dad," she begged. She knew they could afford it. Her dad was a prestigious lawyer after all, but she also knew that her parents tried not to let her get too spoiled. One look at her face though and her dad couldn't say no. She was a daddy's girl through and through.

Her dad went up to the manager and began talking to him about leasing the car. Thankfully, they had one on lot. After much talking and signing and learning about the new features of her car, she was finally handed the keys. It was hers.

She pulled her phone out of her black oversized Marc Jacobs purse and pressed Nick. It was about one at this time. She listened to the phone ring and she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel waiting for him to pick up.

"Hey!" his voice came brightly through the speaker, "You done already?"

"Yeah" she said smiling, "I saw one I wanted and I just had to have it. You know how I am"

"Don't I ever." Nick replied, "So see you in about ten minutes?"

"Sounds good" Miley agreed and hung up the phone and then pulled out of the car dealership.

Her phone rang again and it came through her cars Bluetooth. She pressed the right button on the steering wheel to pick up.

"Hello?" she asked, unsure of whom it was.

"Hey there sweetie," a warm voice rang through her speakers.

"Aaron!" Miley squealed happily.

His easy laugh reached her ears.

"How's it going?"

"It's… good" Miley said after a moment.

"Come on, Miley" Aaron said, "You can't lie to me. How are you parents?"

"Um, the same" Miley said softly.

"Please tell me you didn't do it again."

"I-" Miley started, but she couldn't finish. She couldn't lie to him.

"Baby, what happened? You were doing so good!" he asked her.

"Nick has a girlfriend," she said.

"Oh. Well it's been a long time, Miles"

"I know," Miley smiled even though she knew he couldn't see her, "Listen, I'm on my way to his house now, I'll call you later."

"Okay. Have fun. Stay strong. Love you"

"You too," she said before hanging up and parking in Nick's driveway and going up to ring the doorbell.

***

To be honest, Nick had been up since nine waiting for her phone call. He knew it was ridiculous and there was no way she would be done, but that didn't stop him. He had woken up and once he realized he was going to see her today he just couldn't go back to sleep.

But finally, she was on her way over. His mom was making lunch in the kitchen and then they could decide from there what they were doing. He felt nervous, happy excitement bubbling in his abdomen. It was thrilling to be around her again.

The doorbell rang and Nick rushed to it and swung the door open, revealing Miley. She was wearing blue shorts and a high necked white sleeveless blouse with ruffles. On her feet she wore brown leather sandals. Her hair was pushed to a one side in a low pony tail and her makeup looked natural, the sight of her glossy lips drove Nick insane. She was beautiful.

Nick pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back. She liked the way his strong arms felt around her, but she quickly shook that thought out of her head. He had a girlfriend, she couldn't be thinking that way.

"My mom made sandwiches" Nick said leading her into the kitchen.

"Still a momma's boy, I see" she joked.

"Hey!" Nick protested, "I can't help it, she's such a good cook!"

"True," Miley allowed taking a seat on one of the barstools that lined the counter. There a plate of gourmet sandwiches, prepared by Mrs. Lucas, sat with a bowl of chips next to it.

"Want something to drink?" he asked her, opening the fridge.

"Um, just water please" she said after a thought. He pulled her out a Fiji water bottle and a bottle of beer for himself. She raised her eyebrows at it.

"My parents don't mind" Nick said and then after a pause and another look from Miley, "Well, what they don't know can't hurt them."

Miley nodded. She was used to alcohol being easily obtained by her rich boarding school friends. Their parents were rarely around and had so much stuff they barely noticed it was missing. They were the kind of kids who could walk into a bar and order liquor without batting an eyelash.

She didn't know why it surprised her that Nick drank too. It was a normal high school thing; she just wasn't used to that kind of stuff from around here. It was weird being back and seeing how much everything had changed. She had almost expected it to stay the same. There were new faces and new traditions that she hadn't been counting on.

Nick took a seat next to her and watched her nibble on a sandwich. Wow, she was adorable.

"So why are you back home this summer?" Nick asked after a few moments of chewing.

"Oh, you know. I had plans to go to Europe, but they kind of fell through. So I figured I'd come back here and get reacquainted with my roots before heading off to Yale."

"Oh yeah," Nick said, "I never had a chance to congratulate you. Congratulations!"

"Thanks" Miley said smiling, "What about you mister? I heard you got early acceptance to Yale too!"

"Yeah" Nick said a little embarrassed. He really hoped she wouldn't see right through his obvious plan.

"That's so awesome, we'll get to spend the next four years together," Miley said.

Nick smiled at her, "I guess so" he said casually as if that hadn't been his plan all along, "What are you going to major in?"

"I think architecture; I love the designing and the drawing. It's so cool… you?"

"Business, obviously. Kevin's a music major, God only knows what Joe is doing out in Cali, I'm the last one left to take over the family business" he replied.

"It's going to be so fun," Miley said turning to him and leaning in slightly.

Nick could feel her breath she was so close to him. He felt shivers going down his back.

"I know," he agreed leaning in as well. They were so close he could practically count each one of her perfectly long eyelashes. All he would have to do was lean in just a little closer and…

Just then Joe chose to come down the stairs in boxers and a T shirt even though it was almost two. Nick rolled his eyes. His brother could be such a loser when he wanted to. Miley shifted away from Nick slightly.

Joe rubbed his eyes and then saw Miley sitting at the counter.

"Oh hey there," Joe said a little surprised and scratched his head.

"Hey Joe" Miley said holding back laughter at his appearance.

Joe grabbed a sandwich off of the counter and bit into it fiercely before going into the laundry room that was located off the side of the kitchen. He came back wearing black basketball shorts over his boxers.

"So," Joe said looking between Miley and Nick. If someone asked him, he thought Nick and Miley were sitting a little too close, but he didn't say anything, "What are you two up to today?"

"I don't know," Miley said biting her lip and looking sideways at Nick, "What do you have planned Nick?"

"I didn't really think that far ahead," Nick answered honestly. Just then his phone rang loudly in his pocket. He looked at the caller id. Alex, it read. He sighed, "Excuse me" and went into the next room to take the call.

Joe sat down next to Miley who looked completely innocent in her high necked top and perfect length shorts. If only Nick knew…

_It was the summer after Joe's last year of high school. Somehow he had managed to graduate successfully and even get into UCLA his dream school. He always wanted to get away to California the laid back lifestyle was just what he needed. _

_He was sitting around doing nothing after waking up (he was planning on making this the laziest summer of his life) when the doorbell rang unexpectedly._

_Dressed in jeans and a tight t-shirt, Joe opened the door revealing a petite brunette who looked strangely familiar._

"_Joe!" she squealed and Joe realized who it was. It was his little brother's kid friend Miley. But she wasn't a kid anymore. She had grown out in all the right places and she had finally gotten her braces taken off. She had clearly learned how to put on makeup and she was wearing a short white skirt and a tight pink tank top. Even though she had just finished her freshman year there was no way to deny it, she looked hot._

"_Miley?" Joe asked even though he knew the answer, "You look great"_

_She giggled and shifted under his gaze, "Is Nick home?" she asked hopefully._

"_Nick's at camp…" Joe said. Nick was in fact at a camp. It was an academic camp, in hopes of getting into the honors program at school and then getting into Yale. _

_Her beautiful face fell instantly, "Oh" she said and made a move to turn around._

"_But you can hang out with me if you want" Joe blurted out and then wondered what he was thinking. This was the girl his brother was in love with. But when her smile brightened he couldn't take it back._

"_Okay," she said and he opened the door wider to let her in._

_An hour or so later they found themselves in Joe's room. She was sitting on his bed and he was sitting in his desk chair. She was giggling at some stupid joke Joe had told her. Her straightened long brown hair was cascading down her shoulders and all of the sudden the sun peered through the window and shone down on her._

_It was breathtaking, really. Her highlights danced in the sun, her skin looked even more flawless than it already did and her blue eyes sparkled with life.  
_

_In an instant Joe had crossed the room to stand in front of her. With her sitting on his high bed and him standing they were about the same height._

"_What are you doing, Joe?" she asked staring him in the eye. She didn't sound scared or nervous, if anything she sounded excited._

_Joe gently cupped her face and she didn't refuse. Slowly he brought his lips to hers. He looked her in the eye and all he saw was confidence, no sign of resistance. Then she pushed forward and closed the gap between their lips. He was stunned at her forwardness, but he couldn't deny he liked it…_

All of the sudden, Miley felt a warm hand on her knee. She looked up at Joe and raised an eyebrow. He smirked at her daring her to say something. He traced circles on her knee and enjoyed seeing the Goosebumps form on her arms.

"Stop it," she hissed angrily, slapping his hand away.

He knew he shouldn't do things like that to her, but she just looked so cute all flushed and angry. He wouldn't actually risk anything, but he knew that he made her nervous. And he loved it.

Joe was about to open his mouth and say something when Nick's voice fluttered into the room and Miley and Joe both strained their ears to listen.

"I can't right now, Alex" Nick said into the phone, "I'm busy… hanging out with a friend… does it matter what friend?... No, I'm not hiding something from you. It's Miley, okay? … Um, I guess, one second"

Nick stepped back into the kitchen for a moment. "Is it okay if Alex comes over?" he asked after putting his hand over the speaker.

_No, it's not_, Miley felt like saying, but she didn't. She was raised too well to say something like that. So instead she put on a smile and said, "Of course!"

He flashed her a smile and went back into the other room.

"Okay, Alex will be here in about ten minutes" he announced as he came back into the room.

"Cool," Joe said awkwardly, "Well I'm going to get dressed"

Nick and Miley were left sitting in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about Alex" Nick said looking at her.

"There's nothing to be sorry about Nick" Miley assured him; "I want to meet the girl who stole your heart" she giggled.

Nick felt his stomach drop when she said this. Alex didn't have his heart. In fact, Alex didn't have any part of him. She was like a prop, someone to stand next to him in a crowd. Really, their relationship was all physical. She was sexy as hell, but nothing like Miley. He felt bad, but he didn't know what to do. They were planning on breaking up at the end of the summer anyway; at least that's what Nick had thought. She was moving out to California to pursue a career in acting and he was staying on the East Coast and going to school. With Miley.

***

When Alex arrived at the Lucas's house she was greeted by a shiny new black car in her usual spot on the driveway. She gasped when she saw it. It was the kind of car she could only dream of owning. She looked back at her brother's beat up car that she had to practically beg him to use. Alex suddenly felt even more inadequate than before.

She walked up to the front door. After dating Nick for two years, she had grown accustom to nice things, but she wasn't used to having competition who had the same nice things. It wasn't fair really. She realized that Miley and Nick were of the same kind. It wasn't a good realization.

She knocked on the door and Joe opened it. He was dressed in jeans and a T shirt.

"Hey," he said, "They're in the living room" he rolled his eyes and she wondered what that was for.

He led her down the familiar halls until they came to the gray room with white couches. There she saw Miley and Nick sitting very close to each other. Her anger flared. Then she realized that they were sharing a photo album between them. Okay, that was a little better she thought trying not to get too worked up. She knew Nick couldn't stand jealous girls and she needed to stop jumping to conclusions.

"Hey guys!" Alex said faking a smile.

"Hey!" Nick said not even looking up from the album.

"Hi" Miley said looking up at her and smiling.

"What you guys looking at?" she asked coming around the back of the couch to lean over their shoulders. She moved forward to give Nick a kiss but he turned his head so she wound up with just his cheek. Her smile faltered. What was that about?

"Just an old album from when Miley and I were little" Nick said laughing and pointing at a picture. Miley began to blush profusely. Alex looked to wear Nick was pointing. It was a picture of two kids, probably only a year old at most in a bathtub together. One had brown eyes and a head of thick brown hair, the other had bright blue eyes and little curly wisps of brownish hair. Alex realized it was Nick and Miley as children.

_What am I doing here? _Alex thought to herself. She couldn't compete with their past. Who the fuck was she kidding?

But she loved Nick and she wasn't about to lose him and so she stayed and watched them look over pictures for about an hour. Every time they laughed over something she didn't understand her heart broke a little more. Eventually, Miley excused herself to go to the bathroom and Alex realized this was her cue.

She quickly took Miley's seat next to Nick.

"Hey baby," she said smiling in what she knew was in irresistible way.

"Hey," he said smiling, but it seemed as if he was looking right past her. She brought her lips to his gently and waited for him to respond. Slowly, but surely he did. She licked his lip and he opened his mouth. They made out for a few seconds and then she slowly rubbed his thigh with her hand.

Suddenly he pushed her off.

"What the hell, Alex?" he asked her angrily.

"What?" she said defensively. She hadn't done anything wrong!

"Why are you so freaking obsessed with sex?"

Alex stared at him incredulously. "Me? Obsessed with sex? No, Nick. YOU'RE the one obsessed with sex. And not having it with me. I didn't do anything wrong! We were just kissing!"

"Miley would never do something like that!" Nick shouted at her and instantly regretted it. He didn't want to bring Miley into this it wasn't fair to her or to Alex. It wasn't about jealousy, or at least it shouldn't have been.

"Oh sure! Miley's just so perfect, and innocent, and pure" Alex said sarcastically rolling her eyes. Alex was experienced enough to be able to look at Miley and see she wasn't so innocent, but Nick was clearly blinded by her.

"She is!" Nick insisted.

"Oh please," Alex said, "She's clearly not a virgin!"

Nick's blood boiled. He forgot he was even dating Alex for a second. Of course Miley was pure. What did Alex know anyway?

"Don't you dare say that about my best friend!" Nick shouted at her.

"I can say whatever I want about her. She's hiding something from you, Nick! I can see it!"

"Get out" Nick said angrily and he stood up.

"What?" Alex asked him confused.

"Get out" he repeated slowly. He wasn't yelling, but it was definitely an order.

Alex looked at him desperately but he just pointed to the door. Hot tears filled her dark eyes as she walked out of his house. How had that gone so terribly wrong? It wasn't her fault she reasoned to herself, Nick was just too obsessed with Miley. He was setting himself up for disappointment; she could see it a mile away. She only hoped that when Nick fell, he would let her catch him.

**haha idk if you guys saw this, but I think it's so funny:**

**The 16-year-old starlet caught up with JJJ at our Hannah Montana The Movie screening last night and dished about the latest dream she had. She shared, "I woke up and someone was chasing me in the mall. This is going to sound really weird and really stalkerish, but Nick Jonas. The Jonas Brothers were having a concert and all their teenaged fans were attacking me. I was running and Nick tried to rescue me from it. He got me to their helicopter to escape. That was gold."  
**

**Nileyyyy!!! I'm so glad they're friends again... it's like the cutest thing ever. I think they'll probably get together again in the future. It just seems kind of inevitable right now you know? I mean, I know enough people who have had on and off relationships like that so it wouldn't be surprising if Nick and Miley turned out the same way.  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Secrets

**This is probably my favorite chapter that I've written so far. :) REVIEW.**

**Chapter 4: Secrets**

The tension in the room was a little too much for Miley. She could practically feel Alex's eyes burning holes into her. Miley figured it was probably awkward for her, but she was the one who had invited herself over.

So not being able to handle it, Miley excused herself to use the bathroom. She took her time, washing her hands slowly, counting to thirty like you were supposed to. Then she took a deep breath and headed back into the living room.

When she turned the corner she saw Nick and Alex making out. She blushed. She had never been a fan of PDA, it kind of disgusted her. Especially when it was between a boy she liked and someone else. Miley decided she would let them continue what they were doing. She didn't want to get in between them in any way, she wasn't the kind of girl who plotted like that.

For the second time since she had been home Miley felt the urge to make herself sick. She breathed in deeply and tried not to run for the bathroom. She remembered what she had been told _When you feel like getting sick, you have to find something to distract yourself._

So Miley turned around and headed up the stairs to a bedroom she had only been in once before. She knocked gently on the white door.

It opened, revealing a shirtless Joe. His cargo shorts sat low on his hips showing off green plaid boxers. Miley's eyes looked over his muscular chest and he crossed his arms over it.

"Like what you see?" he asked with a smirk raising an eyebrow at her.

Miley rolled her eyes and ignored his question.

"So you and Nick are done with your little trip down memory lane?" he asked her.

"Oh, well, he and Alex needed a moment…" Miley said flustered and Joe nodded knowing what she meant.

"Why'd you come here Miley?" Joe asked her softly. Miley wasn't really sure. She could have just as easily left the house or just gone outside, but for some reason she had come here. She shrugged her shoulders and moved past him pushing his shoulder and sat down on his unmade bed.

Miley looked around the room. It was the same as the last time she had been in it, save for a few posters of scantily clad women. She rolled her eyes at them. The dark blue walls were the same, the same bed, same dressers, same red curtains. Then she turned back to Joe who had sat down in his revolving desk chair. It suddenly struck her how familiar this scene was. She crossed her right let over her left and looked at Joe.

His eyes started at her feet and then worked their way up her long legs until finally reaching her face. It was too quiet. Joe felt like his heart was beating so loud she could hear it. They sat there for a long time just staring at each other while time seemed to stand still.

Then Miley sighed loudly.

"Alex is so pretty… no wonder Nick likes her," Miley said sounding very small and insecure. She pulled her long legs up to her chest and wrapped her small arms around them, "I could never compare to that"

Something in Joe's heart twitched when he heard Miley say that. He knew that Miley really cared about Nick and it was obvious that she was hurting. For some reason this seemed to be hurting him too, almost as if he was in her position.

"C'mon Miley" Joe reasoned, "You're beautiful, you're nice. Alex is Alex. You're Miley."

"She's perfect. She's so beautiful and thin," she looked like she was about to cry.

Suddenly, he got up and stood in front of her just as he had done three years ago. All he wanted to do was to somehow make it better for her and this was the only way he knew how. He wasn't the kind of sentimental person who could just offer advice. She looked up and stared him in the eyes and didn't back down. Joe was about to lean in when they both heard yelling coming from downstairs. It was clearly Nick's voice. It startled them and their trance was broken. Joe jumped back and Miley looked towards the door.

Joe couldn't make out what they were saying. But he heard Nick's voice again and then Alex's shrieks. Then they heard a door slam.

Miley looked at Joe questioningly and he shrugged his shoulders. Then they heard loud foot steps up the stairs and Miley jumped off the bed and went into the hallway just in time to see Nick.

"Hey" she said worriedly, "What happened down there?"

"We broke up," he said simply. They hadn't, but as far as Nick was concerned it was completely over with her. It had been over the second he had seen Miley agian. All he wanted was her.

Joe stood, still shirtless, in his doorway. It was obvious that Miley had just come from his room. Nick's confused face flew from Joe to Miley and back again.

"What were you guys doing?" Nick asked looking at Joe accusingly. He knew that Joe was a flirt and a charmer, he hoped that Miley wouldn't fall for his tricks.

"Oh, you know…" Miley said, "Just, um, we were just-"

"Talking about boys!" Joe filled in.

Miley turned around and gave him a look and Nick raised an eyebrow at him. That was the best he could come up with? Nick then turned to Miley.

She flashed him her gorgeous smile, "Yeah, Joe's a great listener."

Nick didn't look like he bought it, but he wasn't about to challenge Miley. She wouldn't lie to him, right? She was perfect.

"O-kay," he said, "So Miley, want to go back downstairs?"

"Yeah of course," she said. Nick reached out and grabbed her hand and led her back down to the living room. He sat her back down on the white couch without letting go of her hand.

"Miley," he started and stared into her deep blue eyes, "Do you remember-"

Suddenly Miley's phone started to ring. She gave him a sympathetic look and pulled her hand back. She took her phone out of her pocket and looked at it.

"Sorry, I have to take this."

Nick's heart fell. He really needed to tell her this before he ran out of courage. She walked out of the room and he listened in on her conversation.

"Hey, mom" she was silent for a long time, "I'm sure he didn't mean to… no I'm not taking his side… just talk to him!... okay I'll be home soon!"

Nick heard her cry of frustration. Then he heard her take a deep calming breath. Then she finally walked back into the room. Her face was red and crumpled in anger. He wanted nothing more than to smooth out her forehead and hold her close and listen to her rant about whatever was troubling her.

"What's wrong?" he asked her standing up suddenly.

"Nothing, I gotta go," Miley said blowing him off and heading for the front door.

Nick followed her like a lost puppy. She pulled open the front door and Nick grabbed her arm.

"Don't go," he begged.

"I have to, Nick" she said pulling her arm back.

"Tell me what's wrong. Come on, it's me, we tell each other everything"

"No, we _**told**_ each other everything. Things change, people change" Miley snapped and left the house.

She walked to her car and pulled her keys out of her oversized purse. She got in the door and drove off. Hot tears stung her eyes. It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be the kid! Why were her parents so immature?

"_You don't care about us anymore!" Leticia Stewart screamed at her husband, Richard Stewart._

"_I've been supporting this family for years!" Richard yelled back at her._

"_You're never home anymore! I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks!"_

"_That's not my fault; I have a big responsibility at work!"_

"_Yeah, like showing around that new intern?" Leticia accused._

"_Are you implying that I'm cheating on you? Because that's completely ridiculous!"_

_It was Christmastime and Miley was eighteen years old, she was in her senior year and she should be happy but she wasn't. She was sitting at the dining room table of her grandmother's house with her grandma and her boyfriend of almost a year, Aaron._

_Her parents were in the next room fighting. That had been happening a lot lately and it was like nothing Miley could do would stop them._

_Miley was looking down at her almost empty plate. In times of stress, Miley ate. It was a terrible habit and Miley hated it. As her parents screams filled her ears she got up suddenly and headed for the bathroom._

_The second she was in there her stomach started turning. She breathed deeply and knew what she had to do. She stuck her finger down her throat, her eyes watered and she retched, and then finally got rid of everything in her stomach. _

_She got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible, sickly and pale. She looked down at her stomach. She still felt stuffed and fat._

_Making herself sick was something she had started her sophomore year of boarding school. The old money kids she had met there were flawless. She felt like she couldn't compare to them physically. Which made her stress, which made her eat. And so being bulimic was a way to stay thin and in control of something.  
_

_She had assumed she would only do it once or twice, but it soon became an addiction. It was a way to control the world around her. Her parents started fighting all the time. Miley had been the glue that held them together, but now Miley couldn't even stand to be around them._

_She brushed her teeth slowly and washed her face. Then she left the bathroom. She felt so dizzy and she had a terrible headache. She had never felt like this before._

_She walked back into the dining room and smiled at Aaron. Then she passed out on the floor._

_The next thing she remembered was waking up and sitting in a hospital bed. Her mom and dad were on one side of her. Her mom was holding her cold hand with tears and her eyes and her dad had a comforting arm around her mom. That was a nice change._

_She turned to the other side and saw Aaron. She smiled. It was nice that he was here. _

"_What happened?" she asked disoriented._

"_You passed out sweetie," her father told her looking at her concernedly. _

"_Oh," Miley said laughing, "Well, that's silly."_

_Miley began to sit up, "Well, can we go home now?"_

"_Miley," Aaron said sternly, but gently, "You fainted because you had nothing in your body. It basically shut down because it had nothing to run on. The doctors think you may be bulimic."_

"_That's completely ridiculous!" Miley exclaimed trying to laugh it off._

_But she could tell by the looks on their faces that they weren't buying it._

Halfway home, Miley started crying hysterically. She pulled the car over onto a side street and pulled it into park. She rested her head on the steering wheel just letting the tears fall. Then she pulled out her phone and dialed the very familiar numbers, it rang and then went to voicemail.

"Hey, it's Aaron, I'm not here right now, so leave a message and I'll get back to you. BEEP"

"Hey Aaron, it's me" Miley said into the phone, tears pouring down her face "I- I think I need you. Things are just so… I just… call me please"

Aaron. Aaron was her boy friend for a year before he found out that Miley was a bulimic. Even now she hated the word. It made her feel dirty and disgusting, like there was something wrong with her. He held her hand through therapy, had dragged her out of bed when she wished she could just curl up and die, and had always been there for her. He was the most amazing guy she had ever met.

But between all the therapy sessions and late night phone calls, Aaron had found out Miley's whole story. He learned about Nick, the boy she still hadn't let go of. And he had dumped her. Well, he didn't exactly dump her. But he had decided they were better off as friends. He was also the one who pushed her into spending the summer at home.

Miley collected herself and then pulled out of her spot on the side of the road. Aaron knew everything about her. He loved her even if she couldn't love him the same way. He had promised to be there for her. He was easy to lean on and she really needed someone to lean on right now.

***

Alex was definitely still hurting after her argument with Nick. He had sounded so angry when he told her to get out. She knew she shouldn't have said anything about Miley, but Alex was angry too.

She snuck out of her house, it wasn't like anyone would miss her anyway. Her face was tear stained and her hair was messy and pulled up into a bun, something she rarely did, she preferred to have it hanging in sexily in her face. She was wearing black Soffee shorts and a red tank top. Her face was unusually make-up free.

But she didn't need make up for where she was going. She climbed over the familiar fence, it was probably unlocked, but it was just part of her ritual. She had come here a handful of times in her life, after her father's wedding, after her first time, after Nick asked her out, and a few other times.

Alex walked down the path she knew by heart. Down six and over four, she got down on her knees and stared at the stone in front of her. Fresh tears appeared on her face.

"Hey Mama," she said softly, "I know I haven't been here in a while, I'm sorry. I just need someone to talk to today. Lucy is terrible; she didn't even notice I was upset. You would've mom, I know you would. Dad's good, I think he still misses you even though he acts like he doesn't.

"I wanted to tell you something about Nick, mom. Remember the boy I told you about? I was going to bring him here this summer and show him, let him know about you, what a stupid idea. I think, I think we're over. I can't even believe it," Alex sniffled and cried even harder the tears dripping down her face onto her collarbones, "I just can't believe it. He doesn't love me, mom. He loves another girl. I've never felt this way before and I just don't know what to do…"

Alex didn't bother about looking completely insane. It was past midnight, no one else would be at the cemetery anyway. She continued to pour her heart out until she finally cried herself asleep on her mother's grave.


	5. Chapter 5: Love

**Chapter 5: Love**

After going home and listening to her mother complain about her father for what seemed like forever Miley was on the patio of her new bedroom. When her mom heard she was coming back home for the summer, she had immediately set up one of the downstairs guest rooms for her. Their family therapist had told her that Miley would probably want privacy and that as a mother, Leticia had to trust her.

So the downstairs guestroom, the one with the sliding glass door that lead to a small patio on the side of the house, had been converted into a classy bed room. The walls were done in cheetah print wall paper and the huge bed was adorned with an upholstered brown leather headboard along with thousands of animal print pillows. It was very in and very well done.

Miley stood on the balcony and held up cigarette and was about to light it with her zippo when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, I thought you quit"

Miley dropped the cigarette in her hand and turned around with a smile on her face.

"Aaron!" she squealed before throwing her arms around him.

She pulled back and looked at him. His perfectly cut brown straight hair hung slightly in his eyes. He was tall and muscular. He wore true religion jeans that hung on his hips perfectly and a Lacoste polo that was just the right fit. He was like an Abercrombie model, but too rich to ever actually shop there. Or at least his mom felt that way.

"What are you doing here?" Miley asked him, still amazed that he was there.

"You called, said you needed me, and here I am" he flashed her his perfect white smile; "Your mom let me in and told me where your room was. After talking to me for about an hour and telling me what a perfect boy I am" he grinned.

"I can't believe you're really here" Miley said wrapping her thin arms around his waist.

"I know me neither" Aaron said holding her close to his chest, "How are things?"

"Ugh" Miley groaned, "Mom complained for like six years about how dad had made some comment about her watching her figure or something. I'm sure he didn't mean it, but of course she took it completely the wrong way. Nick got into a fight with his girlfriend, who, by the way looks like a hooker, and then when he said he wanted to talk to me, mom called and told me I needed to come home. I hate being here."

"It'll all work out" Aaron said stroking her hair gently, "You haven't made yourself sick again right?"

"No" Miley sighed, "But I thought about it like a million times. I don't know why you made me come back here" she pouted.

"I told you Miles, you gotta learn to face your fears instead of just running away from them."

"I know" Miley mumbled into his chest.

"You know, Miley, you should really be in bed by now" he scolded her gently.

"Sleep with me?" she asked looking up at him with pleading eyes.

He looked at her and tried to say no. He knew that this would only farther complicate things. He was so in love with her, but she needed to get over her past first. But one look at those blue eyes -how innocent they looked!- and there was no way he could turn her down.

"Okay," he told her, "Get changed and I'll meet you here in a second"

Miley slipped on a pair of Juicy sleeping shorts and an old t-shirt. It was a little short, but it still fit her. There was about an inch of skin between the waistband of her shorts and the hem of her shirt.

She heard a soft knock on her door

"Come in" she called. Aaron walked in wearing expensive looking boxers and a white undershirt. To any other girl he would have looked irresistible. Miley pulled down the decorative duvet and piled the unneeded pillows in the corner. Aaron pulled down the sheets and climbed in while Miley turned off the lights. She slid into bed next to him and cuddled up to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist as she drifted asleep.

Aaron admired her beauty in the moonlight that poured through the sliding glass door and he remembered when he realized he needed to let her go.

_It was March and Miley's second month of therapy. After weeks of tears and begging not to have to go Miley had finally agreed she would go if Aaron could come with her to each session. Aaron had been touched that she cared so much and needed him that bad. _

_So Aaron sat there holding her hand as Dr. Smith tried to get to the reason why Miley was bulimic. Her office was warm with rich leather seats that you could just melt into. It was set to look like a library and Dr. Smith sat behind her big oak desk and questioned her patients._

"_Miley" she asked, "Have you ever been in love?_

_Miley smiled and looked at Aaron, "Right now" she said squeezing his hand._

_Dr. Smith smiled at them, it was clear that they shared a special bond. Aaron felt his heart stop. They said I love you to each other but it was amazing to hear her say it to someone else._

"_How about before Aaron?"_

_Miley's face clouded and she loosened her grip on Aaron's hand. He looked at her worriedly. He wasn't afraid of her past, but he was afraid she was hurt by the question._

"_No" she said her voice shaking slightly. It was clear to everyone in the room that it was a lie._

"_How about Nick?" Dr. Smith pushed._

_Aaron was confused. Nick? Miley's childhood friend? He had heard about him a little bit and seen lots of pictures of him and Miley at her house, but he never would have guessed she liked him._

"_How do you know about Nick?" Miley asked softly tears filling her eyes. _

"_Your parents," Dr. Smith said while scratching something down on her notebook._

_She pulled a picture out of Miley's file and handed it to her. It was a picture of Nick and her from the summer before she left. _

"_Nick" Miley said dropping Aaron's hand to softly trace his features in the picture. She barely noticed the tears streaming down her face. Aaron studied her face, it was obvious she still had feelings for this Nick guy._

"_When was the last time you saw Nick, Miley?" Dr. Smith asked her._

"_When I was fourteen" she whispered not even looking up._

"_Have you been home since then?"_

"_Only once."_

"_What happened the time you went back?" _

_More tears streamed down Miley's face. Loud sobs took over her body and she shook with each one. Aaron stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She was crying too hard to talk._

"_Miley is done for today," Dr. Smith said sympathetically, watching the girl sob, "You can take her home"_

_Aaron nodded and picked Miley up bridal style. Even after staying in the hospital for two weeks and having her food intake monitored, Miley was still way too thin. _

_Miley buried her head into Aaron's neck and continued to cry. He quieted her softly whispering comforting things. He stopped when they got to his car and he waited for her to calm down before letting her go._

_When she was finally calm enough to speak she whispered, "I messed up, Aaron"_

"_Shh.. It's okay," he whispered._

"_No, it's not" she said, "I hurt Nick"_

"_How?" Aaron asked. He couldn't help but be curious._

"_I left without saying goodbye. And then later I came back and Joe was home"_

"_Who's Joe?"_

"_Nick's brother"_

"_What happened with Joe, Miley?" Aaron hated that he sounded like her therapist, but he had been told that she should let her talk if she needed to._

"_I kissed him" she paused, "And then I slept with him"_

_A fresh round of tears wet Miley's face and Aaron's head was spinning. She was one confused girl. The most amazing part was that even though she seemed broken and hurt, it only made Aaron love her more. But he loved her so much he knew what he had to do._

"_We should break up, Miley" he said firmly before he changed his mind._

"_NO!" she cried, hugging him tighter around the neck, "Don't leave me!"_

"_I'm not going to leave you" he soothed rocking the small girl back and forth, "I just don't think it's the best idea for us to be dating right now"_

_She looked up at him for the first time since they were in Dr. Smith's office. Her eyes searched his for something, for what he didn't know. But she nodded slightly and he got in the car and drove her back to her dorm._

_***_

Alex woke up with the sun shining down on her. By the look of the sun it was about eight o'clock. Don't ask her how she knew, she could just tell these things. Shit. She needed to get home, fast.

She picked herself up off the ground and brushed the dirt and grass off of her clothes and out of her hair. She was sure her eyes were red and puffy and that her hair looked like crap. Great.

She slowly walked back to her house praying no one would be awake yet, but knowing that was a ridiculous thing to even think. She walked up to the small yellow house and fished around in the flower basket above the door for the spare key.

She found and placed it in the lock and turned it. Slowly she opened the door and slipped in. She could hear the sounds of her father, step-mother, Lucy, and her half sister, Michelle who was only two years old. Alex tried to slip past the door to the kitchen but cringed when she heard Lucy call out.

"Alex!" she said, "Alex, is that you?"

"Yes?" Alex asked without entering the room.

"Can you come in here please?"

Alex sighed. She was so busted. She walked into the room and saw Michelle in her high chair throwing cheerios all over the room. Lucy was in a blue dress and was cooking at the stove. Her father was reading the newspaper and ignoring everything around him.

Lucy gasped when she saw Alex's appearance.

"Where were you last night?"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, playing dumb.

"I mean, why are you coming in this morning, looking like that?" Lucy looked her over like she was a piece of dog shit someone had tracked into the house. Lucy was nothing like her real mom. Her real mom had been plump and had dark hair and smiling eyes. Lucy was tall, thin, blonde, and had icy blue eyes that cut right through Alex.

"I just woke up early and went for a run…" Alex lied rolling her eyes.

"Like I believe that one" Lucy told her coldly.

"Okay, fine, I went to visit my mom's grave" her father looked up when she said this and his face clouded over with emotion.

"Mary" he whispered softly, "How does the site look? Are they taking care of it?" he demanded.

Alex turned to her dad smiling, "It looks great, Dad. You should come with me some to visit her."

Lucy glared at Alex and Alex glared right back. It was obvious that her dad still missed her mom and Lucy hated that.

"Don't sneak out again" Lucy barked before dismissing her.

"I won't" Alex said and then waited until she was out of earshot to add, "let you catch me."

She walked up the steps and passed by her step-brother's room. Her real brother, Justin, was spending the summer in Florida where he had attended the University of Miami that year.

Matt, her step brother walked out of his room as she walked by. He was tall and blonde and for some reason thought he was the shit. He was the same age as Justin, but he didn't go to college or anything. He just sat around doing nothing. It was disgusting.

"Looking good, Alex" he said looking her up and down. Alex shuddered as she felt him undressing her with his eyes. She sent him a death glare and turned into her own room and closed the door.

Her walls were still light purple from the time her mom and her had painted it together in sixth grade. Her furniture was white and even though the room didn't seem to fit her personality at all, it was still the most comforting place Alex knew.

She picked up her old beat up cell phone and scrolled down to Nick's name. She held it to her ear and listened to it ring.

"Yo, it's Nick," his voicemail said. He sounded stoned in it, Alex noted, "I'm not here, so leave one"

"Hey, Nick," Alex said, "It's Alex. Just wanted to call and talk about what happened yesterday call me back" she hesitated and considered adding 'I love you' but then decided not to. If she told him that it would be out of the bag and people could use it against her. There was no way that was happening, "Talk to you later, Bye"

She sighed, laid on her bed and looked up at the glow in the dark stars her dad had put up there years ago wondering where her life was going.


	6. Chapter 6: Party

**Sorry, its been a while since i've updated. i pretty much had the worst week of my life, i was so tired all the time and just feeling really down. it seems like reviews are down on all my stories :/ and everyone elses too for that matter. and it seems like i get less alerts from people updating their stories, it seems like ff is starting to go down, but idk.**

**Anyway, Enjoy, please review!**

**Chapter 6: Party**

Nick pressed end on his phone after listening to Alex's voicemail. He didn't feel bad about breaking up with her, actually he felt bad that he didn't feel bad. Shouldn't he feel guilty? He knew he should, but he just couldn't. To him, it felt like everything was just working out the way it should. Alex and him needed to break up so that he could be with Miley that was just the way the universe was supposed to work.

In reality, it was hard to even remember that Alex was still part of his life. All he could think about was Miley. Being close to her, touching her warm skin, and her awful burst from his house. What had that been about?

One problem at a time, he told himself as he dialed Alex's number hoping that she wouldn't pick up and luckily for him she didn't.. It rang a few times before going to voice mail.

"Hey Alex. I think we both know that you and I are kind of over. I just don't think that we want the same things anymore," Nick paused realizing that it was true because he wanted Miley now instead of Alex, or more likely he had always wanted Miley, "Good luck in California. Bye."

Nick knew that breaking up with someone over a voicemail was an asshole thing to do, but he honestly couldn't wait anymore. One weight was off his shoulders, now he could focus on things that really mattered, like Miley.

Yesterday, things had ended badly with her. He wasn't sure why she had exploded, but he was determined to find out and to make it better. He loved Miley too much to let her just sit around and be sad. Practically the second he hit end from his voicemail to Alex he dialed Miley's number eagerly awaiting the voice that he would hear on the other end.

"Hello?" her voice said and Nick's heart soared.

"Hey Miles, it's me," he said laying back on his bed.

"Nick!" she said, "Listen, I'm really sorry about yesterday… I didn't mean to blow up at you," Miley apologized. Nick was surprised. If he had pissed Alex off it usually took at least an hour of groveling on the phone and then dinner out to a nice restaurant to make up for it.

"Oh," Nick said, this was easier than he expected, "It's no big deal, really."

"No," she said and Nick could almost imagine her shaking her head so that her hair moved, "It's not right to yell at people like that."

"Well, you were kind of right," Nick said shifting directions, realizing he had the perfect opening. "We don't know each other that well anymore. Why don't you come to this party at my friend's house tonight? We can catch up."

Nick held his breath as he awaited her response. That was a good way to open up the idea of them dating right? It was just a group thing, it wasn't like he had asked her to dinner or something. But she was still going to be his guest, which would make it kind of like a date. Nick had thought that one out pretty carefully.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Miley asked and Nick smiled at how worried her voice sounded… she was so caring, it was so adorable, "Will there be a lot of people there?"

"Yeah, pretty much anyone who wants to can come, it's no big deal," he assured her, "Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, it's fine, could you just text me the address and time?"

"Yeah, no problem," Nick said slightly disappointed. Picking her up would make it seem a little more like a date. It would also show everyone at the party that Nick had already made a claim on her. He didn't want anyone else moving in on the love of his life.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight," Miley said sounding excited which lifted Nick's spirits. At least she seemed excited to see him later.

"Yeah, see you, bye," Nick said before listening for the click to know that she had hung up.

Nick's body tingled as he thought about seeing her again tonight. He knew he had to think of something clever to say to her to let her know how much he liked her. No, how much he loved her. Miley was everything to him, he had practically been waiting his whole life for this. He thought he was going to have to wait until the end of the summer, but now here she was. It had to be fate, Nick thought.

***

"Okay," Miley said pressing end on her phone and taking a huge mouthful of the Coco Puffs and milk that was in front of her on the counter, "It looks like we're going out tonight!"

Aaron chewed and swallowed before asking her, "Where?"

"I don't know… Nick invited me to some party, he said everyone was welcome… you want to come too right?" Miley said excitedly. There was no way Aaron could say no when she was clearly so pumped up for the night.

And he also wanted to scope out this Nick guy and see how he treated Miley. Apparently, he had just broken up with his girlfriend, which made Aaron skeptical. He happens to see Miley again and all of the sudden he drops his girlfriend? It seemed like an asshole move to Aaron, but then again, Miley had said that Nick liked her before, so maybe he was just glad that she was back.

"Of course," Aaron said smiling at her. She was still in her boxers and tiny t shirt that showed off a few inches of her toned tummy. He was happy to see that she had kept the weight that she had put on after being hospitalized and her natural curves had her looking even sexier than usual... not that he was noticing since they were _just friends_ now.

The truth was Aaron had been scared to death when he found out that Miley was bulimic. At first he had blamed himself thinking that he had done something wrong, he had made her self-conscious, he was the bad guy. It turned out though that it wasn't.

Nick loved Miley, Miley loved Nick, Miley slept with Nick's brother, Miley never saw Nick again. Nick made Miley feel perfect, Boarding school made her feel imperfect, thin equals perfect, bulimia equals control...

This was basically what Miley's therapist had come up with. Aka all of Miley's problems traced back to Nick. Aaron didn't want to let Miley go, but he didn't want to be second best either. Aaron had pushed Miley to go home only because he was convinced that once she got over Nick she would be all his, and if not, he could deal with that too. He just had to know that she didn't just give up on Nick and go to him because it was easier.

"So what are we doing today until the party?" Aaron asked her. She chewed her cereal thoughtfully before looking at him with a sly grin. Oh boy…

"Let's go shopping!" she exclaimed with a smirk, daring Aaron to contradict her. They both knew that he wouldn't. When it came to Miley Aaron couldn't say no to anything that was healthy for her and made her feel better, "You can help me pick out something to wear tonight!"

Aaron rolled his eyes as she ran to her room to get changed fast. He wondered if she realized how much he really did love her and what he would give for her. He was happy to give it, but everyone wants their work to be appreciated.

***

While Miley was flipping through racks at the local mall, Joe was just getting out of bed. He was lazy. That went without saying, it was a common fact about Joe.

Joe walked slowly down the stairs wondering if he would find Miley down there again with his little brother. He rolled his eyes mentally at the thought.

It wasn't that Joe was jealous of Nick exactly. Miley was hands down the most unique girl he had ever met. Joe had only met two kinds of girls- those who would sleep with him and those who wouldn't.

Miley was somewhere in between those two. She had slept with him, but she didn't seem to have any interest in him. She was mysterious. She was sexy as hell and Joe, of course, noticed.

But at the same time it was a little more than lust, Joe was impressed by her. Her ability to seem completely chaste when she obviously wasn't was impressive to Joe. Some girls, they looked like walking sex and you just knew that they had done bad things, other girls looked so virginal it was actually kind of sad. Miley had both of these things wrapped together into a package that made you want her so bad, but then think that you could never have her.

When Joe got down to the kitchen only Nick was in there, eating Easy Mac out of a bowl and reading the sports section of the Newspaper. Nick looked up as Joe walked in.

"Looks like the Yankees are doing good this year," he said as a way to make conversation. Nick and him weren't exactly close, but they were closer to each other than to any of the other two boys in their house.

"Yeah," Joe said opening the huge pantry that was roughly the size of a walk in closet and looking for food. He settled on a bag of pretzels.

"You going to Zac's tonight?" Nick asked him. Zac was a guy from Nick's class who was famous for parental free parties. There was someone like that in every class. Tonight he was having a summer blow out type of party and everyone was invited.

"Yeah, I'll probably go… not much else to do around here," Joe said shrugging his shoulders.

"Miley's going," Nick said and Joe felt that feeling of guilt. The look on his brother's face looked like something an actor would do in a cheesy romance film. His face had stretched into an unconscious smile and his eyes were all glossy. It made Joe want to pat him on the back and also maybe throw up a little.

"You're still set on her, huh?" Joe asked his younger brother.

"It's always about her," Nick said sighing happily, "I'm going to ask her out tonight."

"Well good luck with that," Joe said grabbing his pretzels and heading back to his room pretending that he didn't just sound like an asshole to his brother.

_I am not jealous, I am not jealous_ he repeated to himself as walked back up the stairs.

***

Alex Russo did not get dumped. It was a fact that any boyfriend she had ever had, she had dumped, not the other way around. So to say that Nick dumping her was a blow to her ego would be an understatement.

Alex felt like a woman scorned. She had never understood girl's anger and want for revenge at their ex-boyfriends until now. But Nick wasn't the one she wanted revenge on, it was Miley.

Okay, well maybe she wanted to make Nick suffer at little bit too.

But that was besides the point. Who the hell did Miley think she was? Coming in on Alex's boyfriend like that was so not okay. Alex and Nick were perfect, at least Alex had thought so, until Miley came along. She could try and pretend that she was coy and sweet, but Alex wasn't buying it. There was something about Miley that made her want to look into her story just a little bit farther.

So Alex got ready to go to the party that night, figuring that Miley would be there. Alex carefully dressed in black short shorts and a black draped halter that showed off most of her back and sunk dangerously low between her full breasts. Her eyes were done up smoky and sexy and her hair was tousled and she was basically screaming sex. Nick could eat his heart out and Miley could know that she would never been as sexy as Alex was. Perfect.

Alex's mood was pretty confidant when she walked into the house where the party was being held. No sign of Nick or Miley yet. Alex smiled at the seemingly millions of guys who smiled her way and smirked at all the girls who looked at her in jealously. She flirtatiously accepted a drink from one of them before stopping and standing a few feet away from the door talking to several guys who couldn't keep their eyes off her.

Nick and Joe came in the door next. Alex's heart sunk in a way that she had never experienced before. It was sadness and knowing that you can't have what you want.

Nick was looking especially delicious in a simple button down shirt and jeans. How was it that he managed to make even the simplest outfits look beyond sexy? His shirt was just tight enough to show off that he was built, but not enough to look completely gay. She could barely breathe at the sight of him.

She waited with bated breath for him to look her way, see her looking like this and surrounded by guys, but he never did. She stared at him willing him to look at her, but still he didn't. He exchanged some high fives with his friends before stopping to make some conversation with them, his eyes fixated solely on the door.

When Miley walked through that door, all of Alex's confidence went down the drain. There was no way that the world was fair. No way at all. Not with Miley walking in like that.

Her dress was a fun purple color. Yes, a dress. Completely out of place, but completely stunning at the same time. The skirt was poufy and sinfully short while the bodice clung to her curves like it was painted on. The triangle halter top cupped her breasts perfectly, but still managed to look appropriate. Her hair was perfectly curled and her makeup was absolutely flawless.

All the guys she was standing with looked to the door with their eyes wide and mouths hung open. Buzzing through the room were the words _who's that girl?_

More surprising though, was the boy she was holding hands with and dragging into the house. He was absolutely gorgeous, maybe even more so than Nick. His hair hung in his face slightly covering his stunning green eyes. His body was taut and clearly muscular through the fitted T-shirt and designer jeans he was wearing. Who _was_ this guy?

Alex looked towards Nick whose face was also crumpled in confusion at this guy with Miley. It was early, but maybe it was already time for things to all fall apart. Alex was excited now to watch this whole night play out.

***

Nick was confused. Who was this guy with Miley? She had told him that she didn't have a boyfriend! And now she has some random guy on her arm. _Relax_, he told himself. Maybe this is just her cousin or something like that, he shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Nick's eyes narrowed as he saw she was holding his hand. She scanned the room and her eyes lit up when she saw him and her face broke into a huge grin making Nick melt on the spot regardless of the guy behind her.

She ran over to him as fast as her silver heels would carry her and once she reached him she dropped the guy's hand and wrapped her arms around Nick tightly. Nick hugged her back just as hard and they held each other a second longer than was necessary, just to be close to each other.

"Hey Nick," she said smiling widely, her blue eyes sparkling, "This is Aaron, my best friend."

Nick's face fell slightly when she said this. Wasn't he still her best friend? As far as he was concerned she was still his...

_Nick and Miley were in the same second grade class. Every since they were little they were inseparable. _

_Both Nick and Miley were on the playground. All the other boys and girls were playing a game in which the boys chased the girls, but Nick and Miley weren't interested in that kind of game. Maybe because even at that age, they were only interested in each other._

_So Miley, in a red plaid dress her hair in two plaits, sat on the swing pumping her legs back and forth while Nick, in khaki shorts and a striped polo, pushed her. Miley was soaring through the air and Nick liked the way that her red dress contrasted with the blue sky, the same blue as her eyes, when he looked up at her._

_"Higher, Nick!" she called from high above him giggling and he smiled giving her the hardest push an eight year old could muster when she came back down. _

_He was still pushing her when three or four of the meaner guys from their class came over and stood in front of Miley on the swing. Suddenly, they grabbed the chains holding it up bringing her to a standstill. _

_"Hey!" Nick yelled at them, "What are you doing?"_

_"Why aren't you playing with us, Miley?" they asked her. Even then before the boys knew what they were feeling, they all thought Miley was really pretty and secretly liked her. _

_"I was just playing with Nick here..." Miley said nervously eyeing the boys who towered over her. Later when they were all older, Miley would grow to be taller than them, but she was a slow bloomer and was still short._

_"Why?" one of the boys asked her, "He's short and shrimpy."_

_This was semi-true. Nick was definitely small for his age, even shorter than Miley, and he was rather thin and fragile looking. _

_The boy went over to Nick and pushed him roughly so that Nick fell onto the ground, woodchips sticking to his hands. His eyes began to water._

_"Hey!" Miley said suddenly angry, "What was that for!?"_

_"Nick's boring," the boy replied, "Come play with us, Miley. I bet we can catch you!"_

_"Nick's not boring," Miley replied defiantly, her small hands on her hips, "Nick's more fun than you will ever be! He's my best friend!"_

_Miley went over to Nick and helped him up. He blushed, embarrassed that a girl was sticking up for him, but also pleased that Miley was such a good friend to him._

_The boys laughed, "Boys and girls can't be best friends!"_

_"Oh yeah?" Miley said turning to face them, "Well, Nick and I are going to be best friends forever. Just wait and see..."_

"...from boarding school!" Miley added quickly seeing the look on Nick's face.

Aaron looked Nick up and down. He didn't seem like anything special. He was at least three inches shorter than Aaron and had messy, curly hair. He looked built enough, but he was kind of skinny in an athletic way. Definitely a runner. So this was the competition.

"Hey," Aaron said sticking his hand out for Nick to shake. He was still well-bred even if he wasn't this guy's biggest fan, "Nice to meet you, man."

Nick grabbed his hand awkwardly, he wasn't used to do things like shaking hands with people. High fives? Yes. Bro hugs? Yes. Handshakes? Not so much. Aaron smirked at his weak handshake.

Aaron and Nick made eye contact for a second before Nick quickly looked away and turned to Miley.

"Hey, Miley, can we go talk somewhere?" he asked her hopefully.

"Yeah, of course, if Aaron doesn't mind waiting here?" Miley said looking at Aaron, just daring him to say no.

"Of course I don't mind. I'll just make some new friends," Aaron said nodding at Miley who smiled at him.

Nick grabbed her hand eagerly and lead her down the hallway into an unoccupied room.

"Hey," the guy who had previously been standing next to Nick said to Aaron, "I'm Joe. You're friends with Miley?"

So this was Joe. He looked like a waste of space. His hair was messy, his clothes were wrinkled. This guy was definitely not competition. Nevertheless he had been involved with Miley.

"Yeah, we're closer than you think," Aaron replied coolly, shaking his hand as well. His shake was stronger than Nick Aaron noted, "So you're Joe."

Joe looked at Aaron confused. He sounded like he knew who Joe was.

"Huh?"

"You're Joe. You slept with Miley when she was fifteen." Aaron said coldly.

"I-uh-I, well," Joe stumbled lost for words. He was under the impression that Miley hadn't told anyone about them.

"Listen," Aaron said his voice low, "Just leave her alone, okay? I know she doesn't mean anything to you, she was just some innocent girl that you fucked. But she's been through a rough time. If you give her shit, you'll have to answer to me."

Joe gulped as the taller boy towered over him. Who did this guy think he was?

"Miley wasn't just some girl..." Joe said softly, his voice laced with a distant emotion. There was a flicker of confusion on Aaron's face before he got his composure back.

"Just leave her alone," Aaron said again before turning around and heading for the makeshift bar that was set up in the kitchen.

Alex had been watching the whole exchange across the room with narrowed eyes. She watched Nick and Miley leave together to head back into one of the bedrooms. That slut. She would bet that Nick was fucking her right now. Saving himself her ass, what a bullshiter. She also saw the guy who was with Miley looking like he was threatening Joe. What was that about? Did they know him? The look on Nick's face when he walked in with Miley indicated that he didn't, but maybe Joe did? Alex was determined to find answers.

She flaunted her way over to the bar where Aaron was getting himself a beer from one of the many mini-kegs. She sauntered right up to him and waited until he noticed her.

"Fill me up?" she said offering him her cup and batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. He blinked looking at her as if he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. After a few awkward minutes, he took her cup and filled it three quarters of the way with beer.

"Thanks," she said taking her cup back from him and biting her lip, "I'm Alex."

"Aaron," he said shortly looking around bored. Alex took the chance to look at Aaron, like really look at him. He was jaw droppingly gorgeous that was no lie. But he seemed to be holding something back which intrigued Alex.

"You're not from around here," Alex commented, trying to get his attention again.

"No, I'm not," he agreed looking at her. She was pretty, but she had on too much eye makeup for his taste and her clothes were a little on the skimpy side. He wondered what she'd look like in plain jeans and a t shirt like Miley wore that time when... Ugh Miley. There she was back in his head. He shook it as if that would get her out.

Alex giggled, although she didn't mean to. He looked so cute shaking his head like that. Aaron smiled at her laugh, it was adorable. It wasn't the false loud laugh that she usually gave at parties that screamed "Look at me, I'm having the time of my life," but a genuine giggle.

"So where are you from?"

"Born and raised in Connecticut," he replied getting more into their conversation. This Alex girl seemed like a cool chick underneath it all, "Went to boarding school in New Hampshire for most of my life. Do you know Miley?"

"Yeah I've heard of her," Alex said vaguely, not wanting Aaron to know _how_ she had heard of her lest he think less of her.

"I'm her ex boyfriend," Aaron admitted to her. Alex eyes widened in shock. Miley's ex boyfriend was here? While Miley was hooking up with Nick? That girl just kept getting sketchier and sketchier. Aaron's face looked sad and wistful and Alex instantly felt bad for prying.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said awkwardly. Apologizing wasn't really her thing.

"It's fine," Aaron said putting on a smile, "We're just friends now. What about you, Miss Alex? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Alex smiled, this was more like it. She liked flirting with guys, it was easier than talking about feelings.

"Well, you caught me at a lucky time," she said flirtatiously, "I currently happen to be single as well."

"Hmm," Aaron said and pretended to be thinking, "Well how about a dance?" he asked her gesturing to where a few people had already started dancing in the middle of the living room.

"I'd be honored," Alex said giggling again as he took her hand and lead her expertly to the dance floor.

**haha, so the guy from OceanUp replied to me on twitter. and i replied. and he replied again. sorry, i just thought that was cool. :P REVIEW PLEASE**


	7. Chapter 7: Talks

**This one's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it. Review please!**

**Chapter 7: Talks**

Nick grabbed Miley's hand and lead her down the hallway to one of the empty rooms. His hand was sweating with nerves and he hoped that Miley couldn't feel it or wasn't grossed out by it. That would definitely be a mood killer. He just couldn't believe that he was actually going to do this. He was going to tell Miley that he still felt the same. He was terrified, but incredibly excited to take that dive. He loved her so much.

He opened one of the doors and looked in to make sure it was free of any couples already getting it on. Not that he planned to hook up with Miley tonight, he just needed a semi-quiet place to talk to her.

Nick looked at her anxiously and she gave him a reassuring smile. Turning on the light felt weird, so he kept it off, but kept the door open a crack to let some light pour in. He sat down on the edge of the full sized bed and gestured for Miley to sit next to him. The whole time he didn't let go of her hand. He couldn't bear to break contact with her anyway.

"So..." Miley said awkwardly after they had sat in silence for a while, "You wanted to talk?"

Nick gulped loudly trying to think of what he was going to say. He took a deep breath before starting.

"I still remember the exact day you left. August 29th," he started looking down at their hands instead of at her face. They looked so nice together, her long slender fingers and his big manly ones. She looked at him curiously, "And I still remember what I told you. Do you remember?"

Now it was Miley's turn to be nervous. Of course she remembered, but what if somehow he was talking about something else? Or if he was going to say 'Well I don't feel the same, let's be friends'?

"Of course," Miley said licking her lips because her mouth was dry, "You told me," her voice shook with nerves, making her sound more like her nervous 13-old self, "You told me that- you told me that you liked me," she whispered the last part as if admitting it out loud would start an earthquake.

"No," Nick said shaking his head and Miley's heart stopped in fear, "No, I told you I loved you," he said smiling and finally looking up at her. She looked at him too. Blue met brown. They leaned in towards each other, even closer than they were in Nick's kitchen just a day ago.

"Well, I still feel the same," Nick whispered right onto her lips. Miley pushed forward and captured his lips into their very first kiss together.

Some first kisses are awkward as two partners get to know each others style. Some first kisses are passionate and fueled with desire, but no real love. This kiss was not one of those. Maybe it was because both of them had imagined this moment so many times that there was no way it couldn't be perfect, or maybe just because they already knew each other so well, but either way this kiss was by far the most perfect thing either of them had ever experienced.

It was soft and gentle and loving, but there was also pent-up passion from all the years they had spent pining for each other. When the both pulled away, they were both sporting matching goofy smiles. Miley bit her lip and Nick smiled putting his hand on her cheek caressing it gently.

"I love you, too," she said softly, "Ever since we were younger, I'm sorry that I left, but I just didn't want to tell you and then when I tried I didn't have time, and then I had to go..."

"It doesn't matter," Nick interrupted her, "What matters is you and me. Right here, right now."

"Okay," Miley said smiling and squeezing Nick's hand gently. It was unreal to be with him right now, and the fact that he still liked her was incredible. They must really be meant to be together.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Nick said looking at her.

"Thanks," she said blushing at the compliment, "You look nice too."

"So," Nick said smiling, "What has been going on in the world of Miley since the last time I saw you?"

Miley laughed and she continued to tell him all about boarding school and Europe and the things she had seen there. He looked at her entranced by her stories of the incredible things she had experienced from her first high school dance to the city of Rome. The only things she left out were possibly the most important- Aaron and her bulimia. But there was no need to bother him with that drama, right? Right.

Hours later, Miley and Nick realized that it was late and that they had spent the whole night just sitting together and talking. It didn't feel like time wasted though, actually it seemed like the perfect way to spend their time.

"I should probably get going," Miley said sadly, not wanting to leave, "I bet Aaron is wondering where I am..."

"Of course," Nick said looking disappointed too, "I'll bet Joe has either passed out by now or hooked up with enough girls for one night," he joked.

Miley shifted uncomfortably at his last comment, but shook it off quickly before Nick could notice any change. She forced a laugh and stood up.

"Before we venture back in to the public..." Nick said and Miley laughed softly, "How about we go on a date tomorrow?"

"I'd like that. I'd really like that," Miley said smiling and trying to act calm while her insides were jumping around and her heart was exploding.

***

Alex was enjoying herself much more than she had expected. She had planned on getting Nick back tonight, but instead she had wound up dancing with Aaron.

When Aaron first lead her to the dance floor she was expecting the usual bumping and grinding. But Aaron's dancing was so much more than that. Dang, that boy knew how to _dance. _

"How'd you learn do dance like this?" Alex asked as he spun her around. People were probably staring, but who cared? She was with a gorgeous guy, and she was gorgeous girl, eyes should be on them.

"Dance lessons in eighth grade. My mom signed me up. We learned all styles from ballroom to swing." Aaron replied chuckling, "Where'd you learn to dance?"

"I've been taking classes since I was five," Alex responded laughing too and showing off a little ballet footwork.

Aaron laughed at her little dance steps and reciprocated them with some of his own. Soon both of them were out of breath not only from dancing, but from laughing. Alex had never felt so comfortable with a guy before.

"Let's get a drink," Aaron shouted over the music and Alex nodded eagerly, smiling when Aaron grabbed her hand and lead her off the dance floor to the kitchen.

"You want another beer?" he asked her motioning to the keg and looking at her.

Alex thought about it. Normally, she would say yes. But did she really want or like the beer? No she didn't. And somehow she didn't think that Aaron was the kind of guy who would judge her for not choosing it. That was a nice feeling.

"Actually, do you think you could just get me a water?" Alex said like it was a question.

Aaron's smile widened and he nodded and Alex suddenly felt relieved as if she had passed an unspoken test. He opened the fridge and handed her a water bottle and she took it and drank from it quickly, eager to quench her thirst.

Aaron pulled out one for himself as well and they sat in the kitchen, drinking water and just talking.

This was not something that Alex would have done normally. In fact usually she wanted to be that girl who was completely wasted and dancing on tables while everyone watched. But sitting with Aaron in the kitchen felt more real to her than that. She liked that she knew that she would remember this tomorrow. She liked Aaron. Wait... she liked Aaron?!

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. Aaron was nice, he was funny, he was obviously a good guy and he was insanely gorgeous. What's not to like? At first she had targeted him only to annoy Miley since Miley had taken her guy, but soon she realized that Aaron was fun to be around and that she really did like him.

They were still talking in the kitchen when Miley and Nick walked in hand in hand.

"There you are!" Miley exclaimed seeing Aaron while Nick tried to avoid Alex's gaze. Nick didn't do good with break ups. Usually he tried to avoid the person as much as possible. He hated knowing that he had disappointed someone even if he didn't particularly care for them anymore. Aaron smiled when Miley walked in the room and he felt his heart flutter at her voice.

Miley wrapped Aaron in a huge hug and he hugged her back tightly. It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying his time with Alex, she seemed like a cool girl, but he was in love with Miley, not her.

Miley narrowed her eyes at Alex and Aaron noticed. Suddenly he was worried that Miley was jealous or that she might get the wrong idea. He didn't know that Alex was Nick's ex, he just thought that she thought that he might like this girl.

"Hey, this is my new friend, Alex," Aaron said putting emphasis on the word friend for Miley's benefit, "Alex, this is Miley."

"Oh we've met," Miley said frostily, but still politely, she couldn't help the way she was raised, "But it's nice to see you again."

"I didn't realize you guys knew each other," Aaron said surprised while Nick suddenly found his shoes very interesting.

"So, are you ready to go?" Miley asked Aaron who glanced at Alex for a moment. Alex felt her heart drop, they were leaving together? Not that she cared. Did she care? She felt confused and disoriented.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, if you are," Aaron said, "Bye Alex, it was nice meeting you."

"You too," Alex said still confused by the situation. Usually she was good at reading people's relationships, but lately it just seemed like she was getting everything wrong.

***

Finally, after looking everywhere for him, Nick had found Joe in the living room, just sitting on the couch smoking a joint. It was very un-Joe-like to just be sitting around at a party and not in the center of everything.

Nick was driving home, since Joe was clearly incapable of doing so. Nick hadn't had anything to drink because he wanted to be sober for his talk with Miley and then they had spend the whole night talking.

"So..." Nick said turning onto the main street, while Joe stared out the window, "I got a date with Miley." Nick couldn't keep the grin off of his face, even though he knew that he probably looked like a huge loser.

"That's... awesome," Joe said still staring out the window at the dark sidewalk. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for his younger brother, he was. But ever since his talk with Aaron he couldn't stop thinking about her in_ that _way. What was Miley? Was she really just some girl he had fucked? He had had his share of one night stands, but he certainly didn't feel the same way about them as he did Miley.

She was so confidant and it was a turn on. When they were together it didn't feel like he was taking advantage of her because she was younger. He could tell that she wanted it too. So what was the difference now?

It was hard for Joe to tell if Miley was sincere about Nick or if she was just playing everyone. She didn't seem like the type to play games, but who knew?

"I think I might take her to the shore tomorrow," Nick said breaking the silence, talking to himself more than he was to Joe, "That would be fun. We used to do that all the time when we were younger."

"Mmhm," Joe grunted, wishing that Nick would just shut up about Miley for two seconds. She was already contaminating his thoughts, she didn't have to be in his ears too.

For God's sake, she was so much younger than him, how was he attracted to her? Maybe it was the way she looked and acted like she was twenty-one. She was just out of high school. Joe couldn't think of any other girl that age who he would feel this way about.

"I can't believe this is really happening," Nick said dreamily, not caring that he probably sounded like a girl and that his brother would probably call him out on it. However, Joe kept his mouth shut as he thought silently to himself _Me neither, bro, me neither._


	8. Chapter 8: Dates

**IMPORTANT: i know this looks like the chapter i already posted, but i forgot to add something important and it was too short to be its own chapter and it didn't fit with the other one. if you scroll down there's a horizontal line where the new part starts. NEW CHAPTER TOMORROW/maaaaaybe tonight. It's a big one. It's called Missed Opportunities

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**Chapter 8: Dates**

Joe watched as Nick checked his hair in the reflection on the microwave for the millionth time. Joe had woken up surprisingly early for a post-party day (it was before eleven) and now was forced to watch his brother obsess over his date with Miley.

Nick pulled bread out of the cabinet and then went into the fridge for lunch meat and cheese. Turkey and Swiss- Miley's favorite since they were kids. He methodically put a piece of bread followed by turkey, followed by one slice of cheese, some more turkey, and the final piece of bread. The younger Miley would eat the sandwich, if and only if it was prepared exactly that way. She also hated any condiments on her sandwich- even if one was too near it she would refuse to eat it.

Nick wrapped it up, proud that he had remembered all of that and put it in the picnic basket on the counter that also contained a blanket,Nick's sandwich, and other foods. He rumaged through the cabinents until he found a cooler and filled it with water and a few beers before drowning them in ice. So far, so good.

Nick had decided to treat Miley to a day at the beach- one of her favorite past times. And while he was sure that the Jersey Shore wasn't comparable to the beaches of France, this was a place that had history. Every summer before Miley went away his parents and her parents would rent a house for a week and they would stay at the beach laughing and just enjoying life the way kids should.

Joe continued to watch his brother prepare lunch for him and Miley noticing the way that Nick smiled, differently than Joe could ever remember seeing, and the way he carefully did everything as if one mistake could ruin her whole day.

"So," Joe said clearing his throat and trying to sound casual, "You're really serious about this date, huh?"

"Yeah," Nick said eyes shining, "I just want everything to be perfect, you know? She means so much to me... She's honestly like the most perfect girl. She's everything I want."

Joe nodded slowly and took another bite of his cereal. If he had to find a word to describe the clawing he felt in his stomach it would probably be guilt. There Nick was trying to make everything perfect for the girl of his dreams- the girl who Joe had slept with. He could tell that Nick assumed that she was perfectly innocent and would never do anything like sleep with a guy four years older than her not to mention his brother.

Should Joe tell him? Or would that make things worse? Nick had loved Miley for so long, Joe remembered the first time Nick had told him that he loved Miley. Joe had been a Junior and Nick was in eighth grade.

The fourteen-year-old Nick sighed dramatically as he flung himself onto the couch. Joe was watching a baseball game on TV while Nick continued to make frustrated noises. Joe rolled his eyes at his little brother.

"Something wrong Nick?" he asked knowing that his brother was only being like this so that Joe would ask him.

"No..." Nick said his tone implying that there was in fact something wrong. Joe really didn't feel like having a heart-to-heart with his little brother, but he knew that Nick would probably annoy him until he finally got whatever was bothering him off his chest.

"C'mon, man, you can tell me," Joe said, "Is it about a girl? Aw, does Nicky have a girlfriend?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Nick asked suddenly looking up at Joe. His curly hair was over grown and messy and he looked ridiculously young to be asking such a question.

"What?" Joe scoffed, "No. Love is completely overrated."

Even in high school, Joe was a player. He had a new girl almost every week, usually more frequent and sometimes they were repeats. Joe prided himself on not being tied down by a girl. He had never experienced love, but he had never had a problem with that, he just wanted to enjoy life.

"There's this girl," Nick started, ignoring Joe's cynical comments. Joe rolled his eyes at his brother's attempt to keep it anonymous, "And whenever I'm around her I just kind of want to like hold her hand or something. I feel like I'm going to explode when she smiles. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's the most beautiful thing I've never seen," Nick said softly with a wistful look on his face.

Joe looked at him curiously, "What's her name?"

"You'll only make fun of me."

"No, I won't, I promise," Joe said. Now Joe really wanted to know, not because he was interested, but because Nick didn't want him to know.

"Okay... It's Miley," Nick admitted looking down and blushing.

Joe exploded into laughter, "Miley? Miley Stewart- that Miley? That loser?"

"She's not a loser!" Nick said angrily, standing up with his hands clenched into fists.

Joe continued to laugh, like his little brother could do any damage to him, "Dude, she's flat and she has braces. Face it- she's ugly."

"No she's not!" Nick said yelling again, "She's beautiful and she's smart and funny. One day you're going to be sorry you didn't see that!"

Nick ran out of the room, probably to go call Miley, while Joe continued laughing on the couch. Yeah right one day he would be sorry...

Nick deserves Miley Joe realized. Nick had always seen how special she was even before she was all grown up and totally hot. Joe had only noticed her once she caught his attention physically. That was probably saying something, but Joe was too tired to think of what that might be.

Nick finally finished putting everything together.

"Yo," Joe said in an attempt to be friendly, "You wanna smoke before you go?" he asked pulling two small joints out of his pocket. He knew that his brother was stoned most of the time, it kept his mind off of Miley and made it easier for him to deal with Alex.

To Joe's surprise Nick shook his head, "Nah, man. When I'm with Miley I want to be completely sober. Something about her just makes me feel good, almost like getting high, but naturally."

Joe looked slightly put out, but he didn't want his little brother to know that he was jealous of him, "Whatever, dude," he said trying to sound disinterested and indifferent.

"Later man," Nick said taking the cooler and picnic basket with him while Joe sat at this kitchen counter feeling like the loser in this situation.

***  
Alex flipped her phone back and forth in her hands. To call or not to call? That was the question. She had the phone book in front of her, opened up to S for Stewart because she knew Aaron was staying with them.

On one hand, she might get Miley which would be a pain, but on the other hand she really wanted to talk to Aaron again. Finally, she gave in a dialed the number, deciding that she would hang up if it was Miley.

It rang and Alex gripped the phone tighter with her sweaty hand. She had never felt this nervous calling a boy before. Maybe beacuse all the other times she could see in the boy's eyes that he wanted her, but with Aaron it was different. There was just something about him.

"Hello?" a male voice said into the phone. It was definitely Aaron, there was no way Alex could mistake his voice, she had already fallen for it.

"Aaron?" she squeaked, cursing herself for sounding so nervous, "Hey, this is Alex. Remember from last night?"

Since when did she become the kind of girl who called boys after one night? Wasn't it always the other way around? And when did she become unsure of whether a guy remembered her? Usually she knew that they would never forget her.

"Of course I remember," he said in his easy going voice and she let out a small sigh of relief, "How could I forget those dance moves?"

She giggled. Alex Russo was not the kind of girl who giggled. Ten seconds on the phone and she was already a different person.

"I was just wondering..." she said hesitating on whether she should continue, "What are you doing today?"

He paused as if thinking and Alex held her breath, "Nothing... Miley's out so I'm all alone," he replied smoothly, "Want to hang out? Maybe get something to eat?"

"Yeah," she said exhaling, "That would be good. Want to meet at the mall at like one?"

"Sure," he said and she would bet that he was smiling by the way he said it, "I'll see you then, Alex."

He hung up and Alex pressed end too before letting out a tiny shriek of joy. She was going out with Aaron who was gorgeous and nice and funny and who she might, maybe, okay, she definitely did, have a crush on.

***  
Miley looked at herself in the mirror. For once, she was actually having a day where she felt good about herself and how she looked. She had swapped her usual designer wear for a pair of light Abercrombie denim cutoffs and a canary yellow v-neck t-shirt. Underneath she was wearing a purple bikini with yellow stitching. Her hair was currently straightened, but she knew that once she hit the water it would be in its natural waves.

She took one last look at herself before nodding and slipping on her purple flipflops. She grabbed her Ralph Lauren beach tote which she had previously packed with a towel, a change of clothes (including underwear), sunscreen, and other necessities for the beach.

Miley was excited for this date with Nick. She had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. She liked that he was taking her somewhere different. She had been taken on countless dates where she and the guy dressed up and went to a fancy restaurant and honestly, it got old. Deep down, Miley was the kind of girl who was content with Micky D's and ice cream after and Nick got that about her.

When he had mentioned going to the beach her eyes had lit up with happiness. It had been far too long since she had been to the good old Jersey Shore. She couldn't wait to feel the hot sand creeping into her flipflops and smell the funnel cake and fries and hear the noise of the waves and even the seagulls. She waited in her foyer, looking out the window for Nick's car. She was jumpy with nervous excitement.

Finally, his mustang pulled into her driveway. Unable to contain herself, Miley opened the front door and ran out.

Nick had been getting out of his car to ring the door bell when he saw her running out with that irresistible grin on her face. He opened up his arms and she ran into them. They hugged each other tight for a moment before kissing lightly on the lips.

"You ready?" he asked her and she nodded happily. He opened her door for her and she got in the car. He got in and started it up while they both made small talk. They spent the whole ride listening and singing along to all their old favorite songs, including boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync. Even though Nick would never admit it now, he had been a fan back in the day.

An hour later, they found themselves at the shore and Nick found a parking lot very close to the entrance to the boardwalk. Nick went into the back of the car to get the picnic basket and cooler he had previously packed while Miley gathered her things and got out of the car as well.

Nick paid for both of their beach tags much to Miley's surprise. She already felt like she was a kid again, but in a good way. She practically skipped onto the sand, smiling and laughing.

Nick watched her looking completely carefree as she danced around in the sun. He was truly dazzled by her.

They found a spot on the beach away from most of the other beachgoers and Nick pulled the beach blanket out and spread it for the two of them. He offered her a cold beer and she accepted and he took one for himself.

"Are you hungry now?" he asked her, trying not to stare at her legs and the way they were stretched out on the blanket.

"Yeah," Miley said smiling. She gave him a look of surprise when he began to pull out food, "Aw, Nick! You made lunch?"

"Yup," he said grinning, "And it really was me, not my mom this time," he joked.

"Well, Mr. Jonas, I am impressed," Miley said laughing as he pulled out potato salad and a bag of chips.

"A sandwich prepared just the way the lady likes it," Nick said in a bad french accent, handing Miley the sandwich he had prepared earlier, "I remembered exactly how you like it. Bread, turkey, one slice of cheese, more turkey, bread."

All Miley could do was thank him and smile wider. Even after all this time he remembered what her favorite sandwich was. Even though, of course, she wasn't as picky as she was as a kid, she still fully appreciated the gesture. He must really, really like her if he remembered all of that.

When they finished and cleaned up they walked back to the blanket and sat down next to each other, just enjoying each others' company for a moment. Miley gazed out into the ocean, imagining how it would feel on her skin. Cold, most likely, but refreshing. She wanted to dive into the waves and then just float until she couldn't feel anything anymore except the roll of the waves underneath her.

"You wanna go in the water?" Nick asked her, reading her mind. She looked at him a smirked.

"Um..." she said pretending to think about, "YES! duh."

He laughed at her and stood up taking off his shirt. She stared at his toned stomach muscles and had to bite her lip to keep her jaw from dropping. Yep, definitely not the little boy she used to know anymore. He had a runner's body, slim, but definitely muscular. She grabbed his hand and he hoisted her up.

For a moment Miley was nervous about him seeing her in a bathing suit. Would he be impressed? Grossed out? Alex was definitely thinner than she was. Oh God, why had she agreed to this?

She crossed her arms and pulled her shirt over her head. Nick's eyes widened in appreciation of her body. Miley obviously didn't see herself clearly because to Nick she looked hotter than hot. She had curves in all the right places and her bathing suit pushed up her bust slightly in a way that was a complete turn on. As she shimmied out of her shorts all Nick could do was stare at her. Wow, she had grown up.

Not that Nick cared about all that stuff. At least, not much. The fact that Miley was hot was just like an added bonus. Either way, Nick would still be in love with her. He had always been in love with her.

They walked hand in hand to the edge of the water. The waves came up the sand licking their toes. They both shivered at the feel of the cold water. Slowly, they walked in until they were almost knee deep.

Suddenly, Miley let go of his hand and began running and he began to chase after her. Miley began to wonder why she thought she could out run him when he caught up to her quickly and scooped her up so that he was carrying her bridal-style.

"Put me down!" she begged, secretly hoping that he wouldn't. She like the feel of his arms under her, she felt secure. He looked down at her and smirked and her eyes widened, "No! Nick! Don't you dare drop me!" she screeched, latching her arms around his neck and holding on for her life.

"I'm not going to drop you," he insisted and she let go of him. Suddenly, she felt her self completely submerged in cold water with sand in her hair and salt water in her eyes. He was going to get it. She held her breath, one of her many talents, and stayed submerged in the ocean.

Right on time, she felt Nick's hands lock around her and pull her out of the water. She took a small breath, then continued to hold it.

"Oh, my God! Miles, I'm so sorry!" he said sounding extremely upset, "Miley! Please wake up," he begged. It took all of her willpower not to smile. He carried her to the shore, before gently laying her on the sand. "Miley! Wake up!" he said shaking her. He had taken a CPR class before, but he couldn't exactly remember all the steps.

"Nick..." she whispered sounding awful.

"Miley!" he exclaimed happily sounding so relieved she almost felt bad. Almost.

"Nick... come here," she said and he lowered his face to hers, "Nick... I have to tell you something..." she could feel his breath on her face he was so close, "NEVER DROP ME IN THE OCEAN AGAIN!" she yelled suddenly and Nick jumped back in shock while she sat up, laughing histerically.

"That wasn't funny, Miles!" he said angrily, but she could tell that he was just mad that she had fooled him. Miley continued to laugh at him.

"Really? Because I thought it was hilarious!" she said clutching her stomach in laughter. Nick pouted and crossed his arms and legs turning so he was facing away from her. Miley rolled her eyes and crawled over to him, resting her hands on his shoulders and whispering in his ear.

"I'm sorry, Nick," she said in a baby voice giving him her best 'forgive me' look. He smiled at her antics and turned his face to kiss her on the lips.

"It's okay, I forgive you," he said smiling, "And I'm sorry I dropped you in the water. I will never, never, never do that again."

"Good," Miley said getting up and grabbing his hand to pull him up too. They spent the rest of the day just laughing and playing like they were kids and falling in love all over again.

Alex and Aaron were sitting at a small sushi restaurant that was located at the mall. After much debate, Alex had finally decided on wearing a simple denim skirt and a tank top. She didn't want to be too dressy, but she didn't want to look like a completely slob either.

Aaron was looking amazing in designer jeans and a t-shirt that fit him perfectly. Alex was practically drooling. His blue eyes were sparkling as they talked.

"So," he said after they ordered, "What's the story behind Alex Russo?"

Alex racked her brain for something to say, something that would be clever and witty, but still cute and funny. She was coming up blank, come on...there had to be something interesting about her to say...

"My mom died," she blurted out suddenly and then felt like hitting herself over the head. Alex had never told anyone that her mom had died. She never had friends who were close enough to notice and she never brought anyone over her house anyway because she was ashamed it was so small.

Aaron's eyes got soft and sad, but to her surprise he didn't seem scared or put off by her confession.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "That must have been really hard for you."

"It was..." she said willing herself not to cry, "It was..." to her annoyance a tear fell down her face. Alex Russo did not cry, especially in public, but there she was crying at the mall.

Aaron came over to her side of the booth and wrapped an arm around her. She gave in and rested her head on his shoulder and cried softly. She cried because she missed her mom, she cried because she lost Nick, and she cried because she wasn't sure what was going on with Aaron. One thing was certain though- Alex Russo was definitely changing.

* * *

Later in the afternoon Nick and Miley were walking on the boardwalk holding hands. Miley swung their hands back and forth while she licked a soft serve ice cream cone Nick had bought her. She felt light, happy, and free. She didn't feel like the girl who studied her ass off to get into Yale or the girl who had slept with someone four years older than her or the girl who had to throw up to feel good about body. She felt like Miley. The true, real Miley.

"Did you have fun today?" Nick asked her squeezing her hand lightly. He was amazed by her. She was so radiantly beautiful with her beach hair and newly sun-kissed skin. The smile on her face was that real genuine Smiley Miley smile that earned her that nickname. Nick could live with it forever.

"Mmhmm," she said licking her ice cream cone, "But this ice cream tastes sorta funny. I think it might be bad... Can you smell it?"

He leaned over as she held it out to him and sniffed it.

"It smells fine to me, Mi-" he was cut off suddenly by the feel of cold ice cream all over his nose and mouth. He looked at her shocked, but deep down he was happy. This was the joking, carefree Miley he knew and loved.

"Hey!" he said pretending to get mad while she smiled at him innocently, "You're going to get it!"

She squealed adorably and took off down the boardwalk. He rolled his eyes, would she ever learn that he was faster than her?

He sprinted after her, catching up quickly. He grabbed her by her waist and spun her around so that she was facing him. She was out of breath and laughing hysterically.

Nick opened his mouth to say something, but Miley grabbed his face and began kissing him all over, slowly removing all traces of ice cream. He shivered at the feeling of her lips on him.

"I'm sorry," she said when she was finished and gave him the same 'forgive me' look she had earlier. He looked down at her. How could he possibly be mad at this girl? It seemed like no matter what she did, he would always let her get away with it.

"It's okay," he said leaning in, "You've got some ice cream on your lips," he whispered before leaning in to kiss her. Her hands reached automatically behind his neck pulling him closer. She licked his lips and he parted them slightly. A jolt of desire ran though his body when her tongue connected with his. She pulled his face even closer to hers deepening the kiss.

He was blown away. He had known kissing her would be good, but damn, this was _good_. After only a few seconds he was already out of breath. He leaned away from her slightly and she bit her lip bashfully and looked up at him.

"That was..." he said breathing heavily, "...wow."

She giggled and went in for another kiss.

"Miley," he said pulling away again, "We're in the middle of a crowded boardwalk."

"Well, let's fix that," she said seductively before grabbing his hand and pulling him into a random store on the boardwalk.

"You got a bathroom?" Miley asked the guy working on the counter. He was about twenty with long hair that looked unkempt.

"Our bathroom is private..." he said boredly, before looking up at her. His eyes widened in appreciation, "I mean, right back that way." he said smiling and pointing to the back.

"Thanks so much," she said with a smile. He stared at her as she walk to the back of the store, he was so captivated by her he didn't even notice the boy she was dragging behind.

Miley dragged Nick into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Quickly she pulled him close by his face and began kissing him. Nick couldn't do anything except kiss her back. It was like the rational part of his brain had shut off.

His hands started at her waist before wandering to her ass. She was just so insanely perfect and gorgeous and she was all his. He slid his hands into her back pockets and pulled her closer. She deepened the kiss and let out a small noise of appreciation.

Nick couldn't believe it. He was so incredibly turned on. He knew now more than ever that he made the right decision not sleeping with Alex. He never felt even half of the things he felt with Miley when he was with Alex. With Alex, it was like he just did things because he could, because she wanted him to and because that was what was expected of them. With Miley, he felt a need and desire even beyond sexual.

Miley jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and he stumbled back a little before turning around and pressing her against the door, still kissing. He didn't stop her as she pulled off his shirt and began exploring his chest. She grabbed his hands, placing them on her breasts though her shirt. It was his turn to make a noise of pleasure.

"I love you," she gasped into his ear before kissing and sucking on his neck. Nick began to gasp for air. He needed to stop her before they went to far. He let go of her chest and brought his hands behind his back unlatching her legs and setting her back on the ground. He took a step back from her.

Miley looked at him confused. He picked his shirt up off the bathroom floor and pulled it over his head. He was breathing heavily. When he was finished he went back to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"I love you," he said looking her straight in the eye, "And I don't want this to happen like this. I want our first time to be perfect. I want us to be able to look back to the day we gave our virginity to each other as a day we want to remember, not as a grimy bathroom on the boardwalk."

Our virginity. Miley repeated in her head. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Nick thought she was a virgin. And he was one too. She should say something. She knew she should say something, but Nick was being so sweet and looking at her with so much intensity she just couldn't. It wouldn't hurt to just... withhold the truth, right?

"Okay," she said with a smile, leaning her forehead against his, "You know, Nick. You're a good guy. I think I'll keep you around for a while," she said with a smile.

"Good. Because I don't plan on letting you go," he said before capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.

***

After Alex's confession at the mall, Aaron had comforted her until she stopped crying. Now he was walking her back to her car so that she could go home. He felt surprisingly comfortable around her. She had a hard exterior, but she had definitely just let it down for him.

He was still crazy in love with Miley, but that option was looking more and more dim. It couldn't hurt to try with a new girl, could it? He looked at Alex. She was pretty. Sure she was wearing more makeup than she needed and her skirt was a little short and her tanktop a little low, but she was a beautiful girl.

Aaron reached out and grabbed her hand and held it. She looked up at him surprised. Surprised, but happy. She let loose a small grin that was absolutely adorable.

Most girls Aaron had grown up with were either as rich as him or even richer. They demanded attention and threw temper tantrums. They were ruthless and unkind and thought the world belonged to them. Miley had been different from them, somewhat. She was still spoiled even if she wasn't a brat about it. But Alex wasn't spoiled at all. She was a normal girl. Aaron liked that about her. Other girls he had tried to date expected the absolute best and most expensive things. He knew that Alex wouldn't be like that, but he found himself wanting to share those kind of things with her. He liked that.

"So..." he said as she stopped at her car. Normally, she would be embarassed because it was so beat up, but as long as he was holding her hand, she didn't care. Aaron ran his free hand through his hair.

"I was thinking..." he started a little nervously, "If you're not doing anything this Saturday... do you think you'd, uh, want to go out or something?"

Inside Alex was screaming. She wanted to jump up and down. Somehow securing a date with Aaron seemed like the accomplishment of a lifetime. She bit her lip to hide a smile. He looked so sweet just standing there looking at her. She couldn't believe that Miley was dumb enough to let him go. That girl must have loads of issues.

"I'd like that," she said with a smile. Alex was trying to keep it cool, but she was pretty sure he could hear the excitement in her voice. He smiled and let go of her hand and pulled her into a hug. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek making her smile. Nick never did sweet things like that. He also opened her car door for her. Alex Russo was falling... hard.

**Aw, Alex! :) **

**Don't forget to follow me on twitter (L0VEisREALx3). Also, don't forget to vote in the NJK awards starting on the 22nd! Two of my stories were nominated and I was also nominated for best new author!! ahhh I still can't believe it!  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Missed Opportunities

**New chapter! Yay! Review! Oh, and if you're following me on twitter, let me know you're from FF so I can follow you back! && check out my shirt designs for the JB concert? Comment? Thanks! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 9: Missed Opportunities  
**

Alex looked at herself in the mirror for the millionth time. After going through countless outfits which ranged from outrageously slutty to nun-worthy attire she had finally picked something out.

A t-shirt and skinny jeans. Alex Russo was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Alert the media. Sure the jeans fit her perfectly and the t-shirt was v-neck, but still. It was a lot less put together than what she normally wore and a lot less revealing.

She honestly couldn't remember being this excited for a date. For her first date with Nick she was incredibly nervous and worried about impressing him. But something about Aaron made her feel relaxed, like she knew everything would work out.

She walked over to her vanity, she only had a few minutes until Aaron came to get her, and quickly swiped on some light eyeliner and mascara. It was record time for Alex.

Finally satisfied she grabbed her purse and bounced down the stairs happily. She walked into the kitchen and checked the time on the microwave. Fifteen minutes until seven. She rocked back and forth on her flip flops.

Just then, Lucy walked in the room. Alex narrowed her eyes. Here we go again Alex thought.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked flipping her tacky blonde hair over her shoulder.

"I have a date," Alex said with an attitude. She couldn't helpt it. She always talked with an attitude to Lucy.

"With Nick?" Lucy asked raising an eyebrow. Lucy had never met Nick. In fact, Nick had never been to her house. Ever. Period. Alex always went to his house, or had him pick her up somewhere else. She didn't want him to see how she lived.

"No," Alex retorted, rolling her eyes at her step-mother's cluelessness, "With a new boy. Nick and I broke up."

"You and Nick broke up?" her dad said coming into the kitchen. His face looked worried, like he was genuinely upset for her.

"Yes, Daddy," Alex said in a much nicer tone. Her dad had met Nick once at a school function. Alex wasn't really sure what her dad thought of him and to be honest she hadn't cared very much at the time.

"So you're going out with a new boy?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I want to meet him," her dad announced much to the surprise of his new wife and his daughter. He had never shown much interest in her life since her mother had died.

Alex opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it. What would the problem be? Aaron was nice, he was polite. And Alex felt a strange need for her dad to accept Aaron. It was weird. Alex nodded.

"Okay, he's picking me up soon," she said with a smile.

"He's picking you up?" her dad asked surprised, "I already like him more than Nick. He knows how to treat a lady."

Alex blushed. She didn't want to tell her dad that it was her fault Nick never picked her up. As much as she hated her house, she knew that her dad worked as hard as he could for her. She could never resent that.

The door bell rang, saving Alex from having to say anything. A cute smile creeped onto her face to the chagrin of Lucy and her father. They had never seen her like this before.

She opened the door and smiled. There he stood with his straight brown hair, falling adorably into his face. It was a little overgrown, but in a good way, not in a messy way. He was wearing light True Religion jeans and a dark polo.

"Hey," she said biting her lip to keep her from smiling like an idiot. Her stomach was doing weird flips, different from the kind she used to get around Nick.

"Hello," he said smiling back at her. She looked so sweet in just jeans and a t-shirt. Her hair was straight and it fell into her face. He wanted to just push it behind her ears so he could see her face.

"Don't panic, but my dad wants to meet you," Alex said quickly searching his face for a sign of discomfort.

But Aaron had played this game enough times. Impress the girls parents. Girls loved that kind of thing and even though Aaron never really tried, parents of girls he dated always seemed to love him.

Alex grabbed his hand and lead him into the kitchen.

"Daddy? This is Aaron," she said nervously, "Aaron, this is my dad and my stepmother, Lucy." Aaron thought it was cute that she was nervous. Most girls he had dated were from the same circle as him. The second they said Aaron they knew immediately who he was. Usually they asked about his parents who owned a steel company. It was refreshing that Mr. Russo obviously had no idea who he was.

"Hello, sir," Aaron said politely holding out his hand to the man in front of him. He looked worn out and tired, but still friendly. He grabbed Aaron's hand and shook it firmly. He also held out his hand to Lucy who looked at him skeptically before shaking it lightly. Something about her seemed off to Aaron. Maybe it was the way she was eying his designer jeans.

"So, Aaron," he began, "Where are you planning to take Alex tonight?"

"Well, sir, I thought we'd grab something to eat then catch a movie."

Mr. Russo nodded, "And what time will you have her home by?"

"Daddy!" Alex said, annoyed. Since when did her dad care about things like that? Aaron shot her a look that seemed to say It's fine and his blue eyes sparkled. She was momentarily speechless.

"Whatever time you'd like, sir," Aaron responded respectfully.

Mr. Russo, however, addressed Alex instead of Aaron, "Midnight, okay, Alex?"

Alex sighed and nodded and Mr. Russo turned to Aaron, "Don't let her fool you," he said lightly. He liked this Aaron guy, "Make sure she's home by twelve."

"Don't worry, sir, I will," Aaron said. A smile played on his lips which made Alex die inside. She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand pulling him out the door while he called out his goodbyes.

Aaron laughed as she pulled him all the way to the car. Her face was red from blushing.

"I'm sorry," she said biting her lip, "He's really not usually like that... I don't know why he wanted to meet you..."

He continued to laugh. She hit his shoulder lightly, "It's not funny!" she insisted, "That was so embarrassing! I've never done that before!"

"You've never had a guy meet your parents before a date?" Aaron asked raising his eyebrow.

Alex shook her head, "They never cared enough to. I can't believe he just did that..."

Aaron could tell that while she was acting like she was completely embarrassed that she actually loved the fact that her dad cared enough about her to meet him. She obviously had an interesting family life and it wasn't that Aaron was nosy, he just genuinely wanted to know something about her.

It was weird, but in a way he was attracted to broken girls. After all, he had liked Miley who had an eating disorder and parents who were always fighting. He liked knowing that being rich or beautiful didn't mean that your life was perfect. In fact, he loved imperfection. He was the kind of guy who wanted to fix things, put them right. He had noticed Alex was hurting over Nick and he wanted to fix that, but he didn't know just how well he was filling the hole in her heart.

***

Nick rang the door bell and wrung his hands nervously as he waited for Miley to answer... Tonight was the night... hopefully.

"Come on in and wait in the living room, I'm just finishing up. Make yourself at home," Miley's voice said through the speaker to the left of the door.

Nick opened the heavy wood door and turned into the living room. He knew this house as well as he knew his own. He sat down on one of the suede couches and tried to look casual.

Soon he heard the sound of high heels on wood floors. He stood up and turned around just in time to see Miley enter the room.

"I-oh," Nick said gulping and trying to resist the urge to grab her and slam her against the wall and fuck her senseless, "You look amazing," he stumbled out. He had never felt as physically and emotionally attracted to someone as he did in that moment.

Her hair was pin straight, framing her face perfectly, and looked unbelievably soft and shiny. He just wanted to run his fingers through it.

Her dress was skin tight with no sleeves and a low square neckline, showing off just the right amount of cleavage. The ruched bodice hid any flaws that she might have had and hugged her ass perfectly before ending a few sinful inches above her knee. The dress was red, matching her lips. At the end of her perfectly tanned, mile long legs were tall black heels.

Nick's heart was racing. His mind was definitely in the gutter now. With an outfit like that who's mind wouldn't be? It amazed him that she could look completely innocent one second and then ooze sexuality the next.

Miley laughed at his clear admiration of her outfit, exactly what she was hoping for. She was just as ready to sleep with Nick as he was ready to be with her.

"Thanks," she replied, "You're not looking so bad yourself."

Nick's simple dress pants, button down shirt, and jacket made him look sophisticated and mature and Miley felt like she was all grown up. This was where she was supposed to be.

She approached Nick and wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick peck on the lips, "You ready to go?"

"Yep," he said taking her hand and guiding her out to his car before opening the door for her and letting her in. This was sure to be an interesting night.

***

Alex laughed as her and Aaron exited the movie theater. Actually, technically, they had been thrown out.

"Jeez," Aaron said, "Who knew that old man would get so angry at us for talking? He could have at least given us some warning before telling on us!"

Alex laughed even harder. She couldn't breathe and her sides hurt. Throughout the whole movie Aaron had made fun of and imitated almost every character. It was one of those awful, but oddly hilarious, R-rated romantic comedies.

Aaron joined in her laughter. She looked so carefree and innocent. It was hard to believe this was the same girl he had met at a party who was practically naked and drinking down beer.

"I can't breathe!" she said between laughs, grabbing his shoulder to support herself. They laughed and laughed all the way out to his car. They had already had dinner at a small restaurant and now they had been kicked out of a movie theater.

"So what do you want to do now?" Aaron asked when the laughter had subsided.

"Hmm, I don't know," Alex said closing her eyes and just letting the happiness in the car fill her up. She felt alive. She felt un-judged and most of all she just felt happy. Sitting in Aaron's expensive car after getting kicked out of a movie felt like the most perfect place to be.

"Want to go get ice cream?" he asked smiling at her. She opened her eyes and turned to him. He was looking at her in a way that made her tummy flip.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she replied smiling and he pulled out of the theater and down to the local Dairy Queen.

***

After dinner as Nick drove back to Miley's house he could feel the corner of the wrapper of the condom he had put in his pocket was digging into his leg: a reminder of what he had planned for later. Finally. Him and Miley giving themselves to each other, just like they were meant to.

It was the only thing he had on his mind since they had left the restaurant. Somehow while eating fancy food with her and listening to her laugh, he had forgotten about later. But now his nerves were starting to get the best of him.

He pulled up to her house and parked. He got out of the car and went around the side to open the car for her before walking her to her door.

"This has been a really fun night," Nick said nervously. He didn't exactly know how to proceed now. He had seen enough movies, but in movies things looked smooth and easy. Now Nick was fumbling for the right lines to say.

"Well," Miley said leaning forward to whisper to him (was it his imagination or was she making eyes at him?) "It doesn't have to end here," she said huskily into his ear. His breath hitched, was she really doing this?

Nick's throat felt dry and he tried to speak before finally croaking out an, "Oh?" that he hoped sounded sexy and excited as opposed to like a little boy.

"Do you want to come in?" she whispered rubbing his arm gently. He shivered at her touch. Hell yes he wanted to come in.

"Okay," he said, also whispering. She unlocked the door and he followed her into the unknown. Luckily for Nick, Miley had been sure that this was the right time for her and Nick to sleep together too.

"Are you parents home?" he whispered. He sounded so adorable. Slightly nervous, but still really sexy. She smiled at his concern. He was so innocent.

"Nope, they're away all weekend," Miley said grabbing his hand and guiding him down the hall towards her bedroom. Maybe there was a part of Miley that felt bad about not being a virgin while Nick was, but she had been very successful in the past three years pretending that it never happened and she wasn't about to stop now.

When they finally made it to her room she opened the door and turned on the lights before dimming them slightly creating a sexy atmosphere. Nick began to relax. It was Miley, his Miley. They were going to do this together and it would be perfect.

Nick closed the door behind them softly and she turned to face him. Her heart was racing, she wanted him so bad right now. He looked so good she could feel every molecule of her body straining for his.

"I love you," he said and her already full heart exploded. She went over to him and he pulled her close by the waist.

She reached up and grabbed his face kissing him hungrily, leaving no question as to what would be going on that night.

They kissed fiercely, devouring each other like they hadn't tasted anything for years. They eagerly got to know each others' mouths and kissing style.

Miley began to push Nick towards the bed without breaking lip contact. She pushed him onto her bed and he looked up at her with lustful eyes, turning her on even more. She could see how badly he wanted her and that only made her want him more.

She straddled him, feeling his hard on and kissing him roughly again. Their tongues twisted together and time was passing quickly, but everything seemed to stand still to the two young adults.

She came up for air and rested on her heels, still over him. She pulled the side zipper on her dress down before fingering the bottom of it and pulling it over her head. All Nick could do was watch in awe as most of her body became exposed to him. Her hair tumbled out of the dress and over her shoulders sexily.

Nick gasped outloud, looking at her like he had found God. He was practically drooling. She was so beautiful to him. All she was wearing now was a lacy black bra with matching panties. She smiled down at him letting him admire her body, for once she was proud to have it on display instead of trying to hide it or wishing she could make herself thinner.

Her fingers ran nimbly over his chest as she unbuttoned his dress shirt and he sat up so she could pull it and his undershirt off. He sat up and began to kiss her passionately again.

"You're so beautiful," he mumbled in between hot kisses.

And for the first time in a while, Miley believed that she truly was beautiful, at least through Nick's eyes.

Happy tears welled in her eyes as he began to place wet kisses down her neck and between her breasts. She moaned and that only fueled Nick's desire. He grabbed her upper thighs and flipped her over, keeping himself between her legs, but resting his weight on his hands as not to crush her.

"I love you," she gasped out and he smiled and continued kissing her body.

Moments later they both found themselves completely naked with Nick still hovering over her.

"Are you sure?" Nick whispered.

***

Alex and Aaron finished their ice cream a long time ago. They had been sitting with their empty containers in front of them for almost an hour already, but neither of them had any intention of leaving anytime soon.

Alex laughed as Aaron told her a funny story about how he had once tricked his nanny by hiding under his bed after he was supposed to be in bed. His eyes flashed with mischief and she smiled and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly.

They both smiled at each other. Alex bit her lip and he began to lean in. She let go of her lip and her eyes fluttered closed. He was so close to her, she could feel his presence right in front of her. What was taking him so long? Then finally, she felt his lips just brush against hers. They were soft and inviting and fireworks erupted in Alex's stomach.

He pulled back and smiled at her and she smiled back blushing. Their first kiss. And it was perfect. Alex made a move to kiss him again when suddenly his phone rang loudly. Startled, Alex jumped back. She thought she saw a wave of disappointment go through his eyes, but she wasn't sure.

He sighed and took out his phone. His eyes got wide when he read the caller ID and it was almost like Alex wasn't even there anymore.

"Hello? Sweetie, what's wrong? Please answer me. You're scaring me," he said with so much love and concern in his voice, Alex couldn't help but envy whoever was on the other line.

***

_"Are you sure?" Joe whispered as he hovered above the fifteen year old Miley._

_Somehow after kissing him she had wound up underneath him in just her bra while he was completely naked, turned on, and ready to go._

_Miley was determined to become as sophisticated and experienced as her rich classmates. Sure, she had come here looking for Nick, but instead had found his hot older brother who seemed just as willing to jump in bed with her._

_"Yeah," she said swallowing her nervousness and faking confidence just like she learned to at school. She bit her lip in a way that she knew was irresistable. She might have been inexperienced, but she knew what she was doing._

_"This might hurt a little," Joe warned her looking at her for any sign of resistance._

_"It's fine," Miley said smiling up at him again and wrapping her legs around his waist, turning him on even more._

_She felt him pressing against her down there and then a momentary shock of pain before feeling him inside of her, filling her up._

_"You okay?" he asked eying her face. Actually, it really, really hurt. But not so bad that Miley couldn't just swallow it and take it._

_"Just perfect," Miley lied trying to keep the edge out of her voice. She tried to surpress the part of her that was telling her that she just made a huge mistake._

_It was just sex, no big deal right?_

_Joe began to thrust in and out of her and he cried out in his own pleasure._

_He was moaning while he gripped her hips and pushed harder._

_After a few moments Miley began to feel pleasure too. She was surprised and amazed by the new feelings she had never experienced before._

_"Oh my God," she cried out, "Oh, my God, don't stop."_

_"Miley," he said, "I'm going to-"_

_"No, not yet," she begged, "Just a little more, oh my God, oh my God, Nick!"_

_They both came at the same time. In the heat of the moment Miley didn't notice that she had cried out the wrong brothers name at her climax. Joe decided not to bring it up. The awkward conversation that would probably follow him mentioning it was so not his style so he ignored it as Miley caught her breath and gathered up her clothes before leaving._

"Wait," Miley said suddenly, pushing Nick off her gently, "I have to tell you something."

She could see disappointment in his eyes, but she had to tell him the truth: she wasn't a virgin, they weren't going to lose their virginity together because she had already given hers away... to his brother.

He rolled off of her and turned on his side to face her. She pulled his undershirt over her head because it felt weird to be naked while they talked.

Miley took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, she couldn't bear to look at him as she told him what had happened. But she also couldn't bear not to tell him. She loved him too much and this meant to much to him to just let him believe that she was innocent.

"The summer after freshman year, I came back home to visit," she started warily.

"Wait, what?" Nick asked confusion in his voice.

"The first thing I did when I got home was go to your house," she continued.

"Miley, I don't understand," Nick said sounding so concerned it broke her heart even more. He really cared about her.

"Please just listen," Miley said and her voice broke on the last word and tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Hey," Nick said softly and placed a reassuring hand on her thigh and rubbed it gently, "Shh... it's okay."

"It's not," she contradicted him and began to cry even harder. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. She couldn't believe she was going to break his heart like this. Or that she had actually done it to begin with.

"Shh..." he comforted again and pulled her close and wiped her tears away.

Miley knew she should pull away, but part of her just wanted to have a few more minutes with him before he began to hate her. She took in how his strong arms felt around her body and soft his skin felt on hers. She inhaled so that later when she remembered her first love she could recall his scent like an old memory.

When she stopped crying she pulled away from him again.

"I- I went to your house," she began again, "But you weren't home. Joe said you were at a school camp or something."

Nick's stomach sank when she mentioned Joe's name. He knew this was going to be bad. Most things involving Joe were. But he was definitely not prepared for the truth.

"Anyway, you weren't home, but Joe invited me in and asked me to hang out with him."

"No," Nick choked out, if Miley heard him she ignored it.

"We went up to his room," Miley continued watching Nick's face fall.

"What happened?" he asked breathing heavily, he was so scared of what she was going to say.

"We kissed-"

"But that's it right?" Nick said suddenly with distrust in his eyes. He wanted to badly to believe that this wasn't happening. Not Miley. Not with his brother.

"No... then we..."

"You what?"

"We had sex..." Miley confessed before looking down.

"Fuck," Nick said and he got up and began throwing his clothes back on. He threw on his dress shirt without the undershirt that Miley was currently wearing and pulled his pants on buttoning them quickly.

"Nick," Miley said desperately, tears leaking from her eyes again, "It doesn't matter does it? I mean, you and I weren't together then... I don't love him, I only love you..."

"Don't say that," Nick said coldly, "Don't lie. You never loved me."

"That's not true!" Miley protested standing up and walking over to him.

"You lied to me." he said backing away from her, "I can't believe I thought you were perfect. Alex was right. Fuck this shit," Nick said before leaving her bedroom and then her house.

Miley sat on her bed and began to cry. She could still smell Nick's scent on his shirt which only made her cry harder. Nick hated her, but she loved him. She was a terrible person. She broke his heart. She was disgusting. How could she have done that to him?

***

"I'm really sorry," Aaron said as he hung up his phone, "But there's an emergency and I have to go."

Alex looked crestfallen and he felt bad about letting her down. But this was about Miley. His true love, right? He had to go to her. There was a part of him that was hoping that she was done with Nick. It was sick, but he couldn't help but be happy.

"Who was that on the phone?" Alex asked softly, touching his arm.

He hesitated, "Uh, it was Miley."

Alex pulled her hand back as if she had been burned. Miley? Miley again? Seriously? What made her so special and perfect? Alex wasn't buying her whole 'poor little rich girl' act.

They both got into the car in silence. All Aaron could think about was getting home to Miley. All Alex could think about was how once again, she was second best to Miley. She didn't even know the girl, but she was sure that she hated her.

Aaron didn't even walk her to the door when they got to her house. She felt embarrassed that she had thought he might like her. Of course she was just a distraction. It was all so fucking familiar she couldn't help but feel tears coming up her throat. Once again, she was left by a boy for Miley Stewart.

**Poor Alex. Ugh, I hate the Alex/Aaron parts. I kind of picture Aaron as looking like Zac Efron and picturing Selena (Alex) with Zac just didn't really create a lot of inspiration. **

**Question: Did anyone watch PPP? What did you think? Personally, I thought it was crazy awkward. Demi and Selena have come a long way. I thought the acting was awkward and the story line was weird (not really realistic/relatable). and Samantha Droke's voice. Yikes. However, I think Selena has the potential to be a good actress and Demi is very talented musician. I love her new single.  
**


	10. Chapter 10: Broken

**So, in case you didn't notice, I changed my penname :)**

Only 2 more chapters after this one, and then a short epilogue. I've kind of been playing around with some ideas for a sequel, but I'm not sure about it yet.

**Chapter 10: Broken**

Nick drove down the road barely watching traffic lights or street signs. His mind was racing almost as fast as his car was. It was a miracle that he made it home in one piece.

He was so angry. At first he was angry at Miley for sleeping with Joe, but now he was angry at Joe for seducing her. He still believed that Miley was perfect deep down and Joe must have somehow convinced her to have sex with him. Why did Joe always have to get everything? It had always been that way in Nick's mind. It wasn't fair. Joe just took anything he wanted, regardless of the consequences.

Miley deserved someone who loved her, who would cherish her. Someone like Nick. But instead Joe had gotten to her first.

Nick tried to calm down before he left the car and entered the house, he really did. But all he could do was imagine Joe and Miley in bed together. Joe seeing and touching what Nick had tonight. Joe getting to her before him. Joe's tongue in Miley's mouth, not to mention other things in Miley.

He couldn't stop picturing Joe's big hands all over Miley's body. Joe hearing Miley moan as he touched her. It was literally making him sick to his stomach.

Nick bolted out of the car and made it to the bushes just in time to heave the contents of his stomach into them.

"Fuck!" he yelled and then spit angrily at the ground.

Next Nick stormed into the house slamming the door loudly. He ran up the stairs and flung open Joe's bedroom door without knocking.

"Um, hello," Joe said confused from his desk chair where he was sitting on the computer. Why would Nick just barge into his room like that? And why did he look like hell?

Nick didn't say a word. He was too angry to even make coherent sentences. It was all just boiling up inside of him, but he was about to let it out. Nick grabbed Joe's chair and flung it (and Joe) to the ground.

"What the hell?" Joe screamed as he scrambled to get up. What the hell was going on? Nick was not the kind of person who got physical. In fact, Nick wasn't even the kind of person who like confrontation.

"I can't believe you!" Nick roared, "You asshole!"

"What are you talking about?" Joe began to ask but before he could finish Nick tackled him to the ground and began to punch Joe's face.

"Dude! What the hell?" Joe asked again. He had no idea what was going on except his little brother was attacking him. Joe tried to defend himself from his brother's blows by covering his face with his hands, but Nick's blows were coming fast and hard. His pent up agression was evident in his punches.

"You fucked her!" Nick yelled, "You took her from me! I'll never have that back now! You knew I was in love with her, but you did it anyway!"

Miley. Of course this was about Miley. What else did Nick feel so strongly about? Joe was angry too though. Nick had no right to be hitting him right now. So what, Joe had slept with her? Nick hadn't been there. Maybe if he had concentrated on getting her at the moment instead of in the future, he would have been home instead of at nerd camp.

"Jesus, Nick" Joe yelled still covering his face, "She _loves_ you and _only _you! Why isn't that enough?"

"She doesn't love me," Nick insisted loudly. Tears were now pouring down his face and his punches were becoming less accurate and less hard as Nick let his sadness and hurt take him over completely.

Joe had never felt as bad for someone as he did in that moment. His little brother looked so passionate, yet so vulnerable and upset. He was crying as he continued to try and punish Joe.

"Nick," Joe said quietly and he grabbed Nick's wrists and pushed him off gently, "Nick, I'm so so so sorry."

Nick continued to sob like a baby. The girl he loved had turned out to be completely different than he thought she was. He had always imagined him and Miley being each others firsts. They would always have a special place in their hearts for each other, but apparently Miley's heart was already taken.

Joe pulled Nick into a brotherly hug as Nick continued to cry. Joe rocked his brother back and forth as if they were kids again and Nick had gotten hurt on the play ground.

"I loved her so much, Joe," Nick said between his tears.

"I know man," Joe said. This wasn't something that Joe and Nick were used to doing. Pouring out their emotions and letting each other provide comfort and security. But somehow in this moment, it didn't seem awkward at all, it seemed completely natural.

"She loved you too," Joe continued, "That day... Nick, she was looking for you, not me."

Nick nodded and Joe let go of his little brother and they both sat leaning their backs against Joe's bed.

"She, uh," Joe said, already embarrassed, "When she, um, you know..."

Nick looked at him questioningly, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"When she... yeah, well. She said your name," Joe finally admitted, completely embarrassed. But he figured it was worth it for his brother's heart.

Nick looked at Joe and smirked at little, "Really?" he said hopefully.

"Yup... She's a great girl, Nick, don't let her go," Joe advised, "She begged me not to tell you, you know. She really didn't want to hurt you. But she's a good person, she couldn't just lie to you. We both got out of hand that day, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know," Nick said thinking, "Just stay away from her, okay?"

"Deal," Joe said and he hugged his brother one last time.

"I don't know what to do now," Nick admitted looking down. He had walked out on her. She probably hated him so much right now. She probably never wanted to see her again. Why couldn't he just had stopped and listened to her instead of freaking out?

"Beats me," Joe said shrugging, figuring stuff out with girls was so not his thing, "It's kind of late though. Maybe you should just call it a night."

"Yeah, that sounds good... then tomorrow I'll go apologize," Nick got up smiling, "Later man."

"Later," Joe said as Nick left the room. Joe sighed. This Miley drama was definitely more than Joe had bargained for.

***

Nothing in Miley's life had ever made her feel as shitty as Nick leaving her did. Nothing.

Sure, she figured he would be mad, but she didn't think he'd just leave her there. If there was one thing Miley was scared of it was being left behind and now Nick had just done it to her. She felt awful, like the scum that gets stuck in the drain.

Miley swung off the bed and practically ripped off Nick's shirt. Next she grabbed the the first thing she could find to put on instead- a pink camisole and a pair of pink girly boxers.

Tears were running down her face as she padded barefoot to her parent's wine celler. They weren't home. They wouldn't give a fuck if she took one, in fact they probably wouldn't even notice. Obviously no one cared for her, she was so disgusting even her own parents didn't want to be around her.

She pulled out the first bottle of wine she saw not caring if it was cheap or expensive or what kind it was. Miley quickly brought it up to the kitchen and pulled out the cork with a corkscrew.

The warm red liquid was a taste of heaven. She could almost feel the blissful forget sliding around her mind and cusioning her self-hatred,

How could she be such a slut? No wonder no one wanted her. Sleeping with Joe was such a terrible idea. Why was she so stupid?

She gulped the wine down fast and was quickly intoxicated. Next she went to the fridge to find something, anything to stuff her face with. After all, same old Miley, that's how she deals with stress. She pulled out a giant piece of fudge cake, it was so big it was probably supposed to be two pieces, but that didn't stop her. She attacked it agressively with the fork and shoved mouthful after mouthful down her throat, barely even stopping to take a break. She probably looked so disgusting right now. Like a big fat pig who couldn't control herself.

She felt sick to her stomach and kind of dizzy at the same time. She spotted her cellphone on the counter where she left it before. Still sobbing the entire time, she speed dialed the one guy who was there for her.

"Hello?" Aaron said concerned. All Miley could do was cry into the phone and blubber out things that didn't make sense. ""Hello? Sweetie, what's wrong? Please answer me. You're scaring me," Aaron said concerned. It make Miley start crying even harder. At least she had Aaron, right?

"Aaron," Miley finally cried out, "Can you come home soon?"

"Yeah, babe, I'll be right there," he said quickly before hanging up the phone.

Miley put her cell down and leaned her head against the cool granite counter tops. It was already pounding and her stomach was churning like crazy.

But that didn't stop her. Either way, she was going to throw it all up, so what did it matter what else she forced into her body?

Miley grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and chugged that down as well then she pulled out a bottle of Grey Goose and took a swig of that as well. _Beer before liquor, never sicker._

Miley rifled through the cabinets looking for anything to each. She pulled out a box of Ritz crackers tearing open the package. She was already disgusting, why not add a few pounds? She shoved the crackers into her mouth chewing through her tears.

Now, not only was she completely wasted, but she was also sick to her stomach. Her body reacted before she even had time to think about what was going to happen.

Her hand flew over her mouth and she ran to the bathroom, praying that she would make it.

Her stomach contracted and heaved and she emptied her stomach into the toilet. She didn't know how long she was laying there, pathetically with her head rested against the edge of the bowl before she felt cool hands pulling her hair back, just in time for her to throw up again.

"Shh..." Aaron whispered while rubbing her back in small circles, trying to soothe the hysterically girl.

Miley didn't know how much long she knelt there throwing up over and over, but eventually she stopped. It was ironic, really. She was planning on making herself throw up after all the shit she had eaten, but now it was like even her body wanted it out of her. Ugh. Even her body thought she could lose a few pounds. If only she was thinner, prettier, more sexy maybe Nick wouldn't have walked out on her. Needless to say, she was not thinking rationally anymore.

Aaron wiped her face off with a cool cloth and offered her a tall glass of water. She gulped it down thankfull, throwing up multiple times especially after drinking tends to dehydrate a girl.

"Whoa," he said, "Small sips, okay?"

Miley nodded and began to take small sips so that she wouldn't throw up again. She then grabbed her tooth brush and began to clean her mouth from the nasty taste that had developed in there.

"You wanna talk about it?" Aaron asked, sliding down onto the floor to sit next to her. Both of them had their backs against the tile of her raised bathtub.

She shook her head no.

"I guess you told him."

She nodded and closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Aaron said and he picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. He placed her gently on the ground and supported her weight while pulling down the sheets. Then he picked her up again and laid her down before tucking the sheets in around her.

"Don't leave me," she said sounding very small and needy.

It broke his heart to hear her sounding like that. Most of the time she had this 'I'm so big, no one can touch me' act going on, but Aaron knew the truth. She was actually one of the most emotionally fragile people he had ever met.

_Aaron's roommate had finally convinced him to go out to a party instead of studying. He had never been a big partier, it was just how he was raised. He was always a gentleman, he didn't get high and he rarely drank, so parties weren't exactly fun for him._

_However, midterms were finally over, so Aaron didn't have a good excuse to stay in and had agreed to go out. It was his junior year of high school and it seemed like nothing could stop him from getting into his dream school, so why not let loose a little bit?_

_He walked into the house where the party was at. It was located a bit off campus in an old house that one of the student's parent's owned for when they came to visit their kid. Only at a rich boarding school would you find someone who actually had another house just for their kid._

_The music was playing loud and the lights were turned down. Girls in fabulous designer dresses were smiling and laughing and dancing. It was almost unreal how beautiful they all were. But one girl in particular caught his eye._

_She was thin, so thin Aaron thought she might snap any second. But, wow, was she beautiful. Her hair was shiny and perfect and she had the most amazing smile. It seemed like she was radiating something Aaron couldn't explain. But he wanted to be close to her._

_"Hey, I'm Aaron," he said smoothly as he slid next to her on the dance floor. Just because he didn't party didn't mean he wasn't smooth. Nope, he was about as smooth as they came, always charming and polite, making all the girls swoon._

_"Miley," she had said, slurring slightly. It was then Aaron realized she was drunk. He thought that this would turn him off from her, make him like her less, think less of her, but somehow he didn't.  
_

_He suddenly became nervous and protective of this girl. He had stayed with her all night, glaring at any guys who looked her way and then getting her home saftely by the end of the night. Being drunk, she had rambled to him about her parents who were always fighting and the constant pressure to be perfect for them. He was mesmerized. He couldn't stop the urge to help her, to make her feel better, to maybe even fix her. He was in love. Because that had to be love, right?  
_

"Okay," he said and pulled his shirt off and kicked off his shoes before climbing into bed with her.

She snuggled against his chest and he wrapped an arm around her. This was how things were supposed to be, right? Aaron loved her and always treated her well, he deserved her and she was all he ever wanted.

Miley looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes which were finally dry from all the crying she had done. She looked so broken all Aaron wanted to do was hold her take away all her pain and fix her. He wanted her to know that she was beautiful and that she was a wonderful girl who had just made a mistake.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, but it felt funny in his mouth as he said it.

She leaned up and kissed him and his heart leaped, thinking that maybe she was over Nick and they could finally be together.

But something felt wrong about the kiss, there was no pounding of the heart or a need to pull her closer. There were no sparks and no racing breath. Aaron felt completely confused and disoriented. What had changed?

Miley pulled away and bit her lip.

"That was weird," he said.

"It was," Miley agreed looking confused.

"I think..." Aaron said thoughtfully, "We don't love each other in the same way anymore."

"Maybe," Miley said, thinking about it. Maybe he was right. She had thought she loved him, then she thought she loved Nick, then Nick hurt her, but now she didn't feel like she loved Aaron anymore. She didn't get that same feeling around Aaron as she did around Nick. Maybe she never really did love Aaron, but he was more of a filler. Or maybe more like a brother. She had never had a brother.

Aaron was thinking along the same lines. He thought Miley was all he had ever wanted it a girl. She was smart, funny, she came from a good family, his parents loved her. But maybe he was wrong. Ideally, Miley was the kind of girl any guy would want to fall in love with. But slowly Aaron realized who was making his heart race these days, even if he was a little slow to realize it. Alex.

"Shit," Aaron muttered as he thought about he had basically just run away from her on their date.

"What?" Miley asked from her comfortable, brotherly spot under his arm.

"I completely ditched Alex to be here. I totally messed up."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Miley said regretfully. She truly didn't mean to do anything of that nature, she had just called Aaron because she needed someone and she knew he would be there, "You should go see her first thing in the morning," Miley suggested.

"Yeah, I will," Aaron said with a smile on his face just thinking about it, "You've had a rough night. You should sleep."

"Yeah," Miley said yawning and then she snuggled up against Aaron again and drifted into dreamland.

**Hmm... what will happen when Nick goes to see Miley? What will Alex say to Aaron? Will Joe really stay away from Miley like he promised?**

I guess you'll have to wait and see ;) review, please. 


	11. Chapter 11: Mistakes

**So, this is my least reviewed story. I was just wondering if there was any particular reason for that? I mean, I realize it's kind of heavy for fanfiction, but I was just wondering what your guys' opinion is on it. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11: Mistakes**

Nick hardly slept at all that night. He couldn't wait to go see Miley again and set everything right. She loved him, she loved him, she loved him. He felt so stupid for ever thinking anything besides that. He could hardly wait to feel her in his arms again and feel her silky hair all over him, tickling his chest.

He laid in bed too hyper to sleep, but too tired to do anything productive. He watched his clock like a hawk, waiting for it to be a reasonable hour to get up. Finally around six-thirty Nick couldn't stay in bed a moment longer.

He sprang up and immediately headed for the shower. He figured he could go to her private entrance and knock until she woke up. Then they could go back to sleep together. He smiled at the thought of her smooth skin rubbing against his as she snuggled against him.

By the time he finally got his act together enough to make it out of the house, it was nearly seven a.m.. He grabbed his keys and quickly got in the car, humming to himself as he drove down the familiar streets.

Nick parked in front of her house and made his way around back. He could see the thin curtains in the glass door. He quickened his pace, trying his hardest to get there as fast as he could without running. He peered in the glass to get a quick look at his sleeping beauty.

Much to his surprise, she wasn't alone. There she was in bed with a shirtless guy who was unfamiliar to Nick. Then he realized it was Aaron. Miley's friend... But didn't she say yesterday that he was on a date with Alex? But now he was with Miley? Nick's head swam with questions.

It didn't help that Miley's hair covered the thin straps of her pink camisole, making it appear as if she was shirtless as well.

He felt sad, angry, and betrayed. Less than twelve hours after him leaving, she was already with another guy. A guy who was supposed to be with another girl. What had she become?

Nick turned around quickly, not bothering to wait around for an explanation. He got in his car and started digging around for something he knew would be back there for the sole reason that he hadn't taken it out of his car since it was give to him. The school directory. It held all the names and addresses of all the kids who went to his school. He opened it up to the letter R and began to drive.

***

Alex had stayed up almost all night. Her face was tear stained, but she was done. She was over it. If Aaron wanted to choose Miley over her, that was his loss, not hers. Obviously Miley was just a trainwreck if she had already lost Nick and needed Aaron.

She sat on the porch on an old swinging bench that probably hadn't be used since her mother died. Seriously, who sat on their porch anymore? But it was nice outside and for some reason Alex felt herself being called to just sit and watch the world wake up before her eyes.

She was surprised, however, when a familiar shiny car pulled up in front of her house. She did a double take. Someone else must have that car too. But what were the odds of them pulling up in front of her house at this hour? A few days ago, the thought of Nick coming to her house would have excited her, but right now she just felt confused. What was he doing here?

He walked up her short sidewalk and onto the porch. She just stared at him. He was wearing simple shorts and a t-shirt and looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"Hey," he offered lamely, standing a little ways from her.

"Hi?" she said in a questioning tone. She couldn't even form words she was so confused.

"Listen, I think I need to tell you something... but I don't know if you're gonna like it..."

Alex blinked at him. Tell her something? Something she wouldn't like? It was like the words didn't make sense in her head. She continued to look at him blankly.

"This morning I went to see Miley... we, uh, had kind of a fight last night and I went there to apologize. When I got there I saw her in bed... with Aaron," Nick said, shifting uncomfortably. He kind of had this idea in his head where he could go tell Alex and then maybe they could both commiserate. It wasn't that he wanted to get back together with her, but it's not like he wanted to be standing there all alone while Miley already had a new guy.

Alex was surprised that this news didn't hurt her. Truthfully she wasn't surprised. But as the image of them in bed together weaved it's way through her mind she couldn't help but ball her hands into tiny fists.

"They were naked," Nick continued, worried by her lack of reaction. Maybe he was overreacting? Alex seemed so calm. Given what he knew about her, he kind of expected her to scream and shout and throw things.

Guess that proved how little he really knew about her.

"Not surprised," Alex said softly, turning her gaze so that she was no longer looking at Nick, but out into the street, "He's her ex. She only broke up with him to be with you. He left me on our date last night."

"Alex..." Nick said his voice strained. He was surprised to find out that Aaron was her ex, but he didn't let it show, "I'm sorry."

He didn't know what he was apologizing for. For Aaron leaving her? For dumping her for Miley? For leading her on all this time? When did he become that guy?

He sat down on the bench next to her and grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly in what he thought was a comforting gesture, but Alex knew what it really was. He was trying to win her back. Well he should have thought of that before. Alex was smart enough to know that that second Miley was free again he would drop her. She didn't want to be the girl who waited to see which guy Miley would choose. She didn't want to get the leftover guy.

She pulled her hand from his roughly, surprising him. He kind of thought she would like that. He never used to be big on stuff like that and she had always complained about it when they were together.

"My mom died," Alex said suddenly. If her intention was to shock him, she did.

"What?" Nick asked confused, "When?"

"A long time ago," she admitted to him. She wasn't sure why she was telling him this now. Maybe it was to prove that he had never known her even though they dated for a while, "I never told you. We were really close. It was really..." She struggled for the right thing to say, but she couldn't think of it. Saying 'hard' made her sound weak, so she just let herself trail off. A single tear for her mom ran down her cheek.

Nick's forehead furrowed in confusion. How had he not known this? That seemed like such a defining characteristic. He also realized he had never seen her cry before. Why had he never taken the time to know her? There were so many things he had never known. For example, he didn't know that her house looked like this. Small and beat up. He didn't know she lived in this neighborhood. He didn't know anything.

It made him think. How much did he know about the last four years of Miley's life? Nothing. He didn't even know Aaron was her ex-boyfriend and yet there he was still in her life. He didn't know the first thing about her anymore.

***

Aaron woke up to light streaming through the glass doors of Miley's room. It was a new day, a new beginning. Time to go see Alex and beg her to take him back. He smiled at the thought of the pout he knew would grace her lips and how she would resist him at first. But he also had faith that after his apology and explanation she would give him another chance.

It was only seven-fifteen, but Aaron guessed that Alex would be awake. In fact, after the shit he pulled, she probably hadn't slept at all. He got up quietly, trying not to disturb Miley who looked so peaceful laying in her bed asleep.

It was hard to believe that this angel had some very, very dark problems. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to leave her alone in this state, but he was too excited to go see Alex.

After freshening up and changing, Aaron left Miley's house to go to Alex's. He drove down all the right roads and was surprised to see another car parked in front of her house. He looked up at her house to see her and Nick sitting on the porch swing.

Anger burned in his veins. Who did this Nick guy think he was? Dumping girls the second he got bored of them, who did that? He noticed that nothing seemed to be going on between them except that Alex's face was wet with tears. If there was one thing Aaron couldn't stand it was seeing a girl cry.

"Well, look who we have here," Aaron said in a voice that was so unlike his normal gentle tone. Alex's head perked up to see him there. The barest trace of a smile played across her face.

Nick stood up suddenly and faced Aaron, jealousy obvious in his stance.

"Shouldn't you be with Miley?" Nick asked rudely while Alex watched on, nervous about what was going to happen.

"Shouldn't you?" Aaron countered, "You know, you dump Alex to be with Miley, then you dump Miley and here you are with Alex? What kind of game do you think you're playing?"

"Whatever," Nick said with an attitude, who did this guy think he was? "Obviously she has already moved on. I saw you guys together this morning in bed."

Aaron nervously glanced over and Alex whose eyes were darting in between Aaron and Nick.

"Wow, all you do is judge," Aaron said, "Do you ever get the full story? I had to stay with her because she was too fucking weak last night to even hold herself up after you left her. You disgust me. Do me a favor and stay away from Miley. She doesn't need someone like you in her life."

Aaron wasn't the kind of guy who got violent, but if he was he definitely would have beaten Nick to a pulp by now. The vision of Miley, weak and bent over in front of the toilet last night, was still fresh in his mind. No one should ever look that broken and hurt especially over a guy.

Nick just shook his head, secretly feeling awful. He left the porch and got into his car and drove away. He didn't know where he was going. He passed Miley's development and even though every muscle in his body was screaming for him to turn, he knew he needed some time to think. He pulled into his own driveway and went inside the house. His parents had already left for work so he went in search of his brother. Maybe he still had those joints from the other day... Yeah, that sounded good. Getting high. Anything to not think about all the questions about Miley that were swirling in his head.

"Joe!" he called through out the house. He even went in Joe's room, assuming he was still asleep. To his surprise, though, no one was there. Huh. Apparently Joe wasn't home. Nick looked out his window and noticed for the first time his car wasn't there. Weird. Where could Joe be this early?

Nick didn't know so instead he just collapsed on his bed to catch up on the sleep he didn't get last night.

***

Aaron stood on the steps to the porch while Alex continued to use her bare feet to push herself gently back and forth. It was almost as if she was rocking herself back into comfort and security.

"Listen, Alex," Aaron started, looking at her pleadingly. Alex continued to gaze forward into the street.

"Can I sit down?" he asked her gently. She shrugged a shoulder indifferently, but he took a seat next to her anyway, "Please look at me."

Alex turned her face so that she was looking at him. Aaron was surprised by how hollow and empty her eyes looked. Nothing like how they had looked at the beginning of their date last night.

"I know it was so stupid of me to leave you last night," Aaron began, "It's just that... Miley and I have been through a lot and she was the first girl who I really loved."

Hurt flickered for a moment in Alex's dark eyes and Aaron quickly began speaking again.

"I feel this... this need to protect her. I thought that was love, but now I see I love her... But not in _that _way," Aaron said struggling for the right words. Aaron reached out for Alex's hand and held it gently and she didn't pull away.

"Last night she had a rough night... some, uh, stuff happened between her and Nick. I thought that they were done and so we kissed..." Aaron noticed Alex tried to tug her hand away, but he held on, "But I didn't feel anything. No sparks nothing... nothing like how I felt when we kissed."

Alex looked up at him with tears sparkling in her eyes and Aaron thought he would never see anything as tragically beautiful as her crying.

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized, making a move to get up.

Suddenly her arms flew around him and her silent tears turned into sobs.

"No one... has ever... said something... like that... to me," Alex said in between happy sobs. Aaron smiled and wrapped his strong arms around Alex, pulling her close.

"Well, you deserve it," Aaron said kissing her on the temple gently.

Alex snuggled close to him, enjoying the way he smelled and how it felt to have someone say such nice things about her.

"So am I forgiven?" he asked with a little grin that made any grudge Alex might have been holding melt away.

"Hmm..." Alex said pretending to think, "I think a kiss would make up for it."

"Done," Aaron said with a smile before holding her face softly in her hands and connecting their lips.

***

Joe walked around the perimeter of the semi-familiar house, trying to find a window or something. After knocking several times unsuccessfully he had decided to try and find another way in.

Joe had heard Nick wake up early and leave the house. Probably because Joe himself couldn't sleep either. All he could think about was Miley.

He didn't know why he was having all these new thoughts about her when he hadn't thought about her that much in such a long time. Maybe it was because she was right there now. And maybe it was because she had grown up A LOT since the last time Joe was with her.

He had casually decided to drive by Miley's house to see if Nick was there. Much to Joe's surprise, there were no cars in the driveway except Miley's black sedan.

He walked down one side until he found a sliding glass door and he peered in. He could see Miley alone sitting on the edge of her bed scantily clad in what he assumed were her pajamas. And was she... crying?

Joe felt the sudden urge to cradle her in his arms and make her feel better. It was so weird. He had never felt this way about any girl. He rapped gently on the glass, making Miley look up.

"Joe?" she asked when she got to the door. She wrapped her thin arms around herself and looked at him confused. He saw her look at his obviously bruised face. Nick had given him one black eye and a cut lip. It looked a lot worse than it actually was.

"Hey," he breathed out, looking her up and down, "I, uh, heard about last night and I just thought I'd come check on you."

Miley's lips twitched as if she was trying to smile, but couldn't. Instead she stepped aside and gestured for him to enter her room.

"Nice pad," he said with a small grin.

"Thanks," she said dully, going over to her walk in closet and pulling out some clothes. She didn't bother to close the door and Joe caught a glimpse of her bare back as she put on a bra and shirt and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. His breath caught in his throat.

"So I'm guessing this was Nick's doing," she said running her finger tips over his lips and around his eye gently. It felt wonderful to Joe. Better than ice or a raw steak would have felt.

"Yeah, but, uh, I don't really blame him," Joe said gently. He didn't know why he had come here. Now that he was in her room he was unsure of what to do. He knew that Nick had asked him to stay away, but he probably just meant in _that_ way, not that he could never see her again, right?

"Do you want something to drink?" Miley asked, her polite side kicking in. No matter how awful she felt she couldn't help it that she was a charming girl.

And boy, did she feel awful. First of all, she felt hungover although she was pretty sure she had thrown up most of the alcohol she had consumed shortly after drinking it, then she felt shitty about Nick leaving her, and then she had woken up to discover that Aaron had left her too. Was it too much to just wake her up and say goodbye? Basically, she felt like the scum that gets stuck in the drain and no one wants to clean out.

"Um, sure," Joe said following her into the kitchen. Something seemed different about her. She didn't seem bubbly and full of life and flirty like he remembered her. It kind of scared him.

"Isn't it kind of early for that?" he asked her eyes widening as she poured herself some juice with a splash of vodka.

"What do you want?" she asked him, ignoring his question. He asked her for a water and she went and got it before giving it to him.

"You got anything to smoke?" she asked him after he had taken a sip of water. He was surprised. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who smoked pot. Maybe cigarettes.

"Uh, you mean like cigs?" he asked confused. Although this was his normal lifestyle, it felt weird seeing Miley like this.

"No, like weed," Miley said bluntly, "I just... I feel really nauseous and I don't want to think right now."

"I-" Joe started. He was unsure if this was a good idea or not. But suddenly she was giving him a little pout and he knew he was going to give in.

"Please, Joe," she said begging, "I'll do whatever you want..." she added seductively. After all, what did she have to lose? She already lost Nick. Maybe Joe would make it feel better.

"Umm..." Joe said clearing his throat while she continued to make eyes at him. Now that he was here, her actions seemed kind of desperate. Joe realized quickly that she just wanted to use him to get over Nick. No way was that happening again. He pulled a joint and a lighter out of his pocket and lit it for her before giving it to her.

"Thank you," she said and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. Joe turned bright red. Seriously, what did he think coming here was going to accomplish? Miley randomly getting over his younger brother after like a million years and deciding she was in love with him? Yeah, right.

"Mmm," Miley said after taking a few drags and letting the feeling of being high surround her until she no longer felt anything. Joe watched as her eyes hazed over and it looked like thought had left her mind. Did he look like that when he was high too? Jeez. He felt bad leaving her there in such a state so he decided to hang around for a while. What could be the harm in that?

Hours later, Joe was still stuck at Miley's house, watching her do one stupid thing after the other. Joe almost wished he was trashed too just so that he could at least find some of the things she was doing funny.

"Are you mad at me, Joey?" she asked giggling and going to sit on his lap. They had moved from the kitchen back into her bed room and he was sitting in her desk chair.

"No," Joe said squirming slightly underneath her. Even wasted she was so beyond beautiful. Watching her actions though and listening to the way she sounded, slurring and giggling over everything made him never want to get high or drunk again.

Suddenly Miley's lips were covering his and her tongue was pushing its way into his mouth. He opened his eyes wider and tried to push her off of him. This was wrong. This was definitely definitely wrong. Nick would not be happy about this. The image of his brother broken down and crying in his arms last night came to Joe. He pushed her off using a little more force and she fell onto the round.

"What the fuck?" Miley said, suddenly turning angry.

"Listen, Nick still loves you. I don't know what happened, but he was going to come and apologize. I can't do this to him," Joe explained standing up and holding up his hands as if to show his innocence.

"So what exactly did you expect when you came here, Joe?" Miley asked him angrily, "Don't lie and give me some bullshit that you 'just wanted to check up on me' because we both know that you came here for one reason. Sex. And now here I am throwing you at myself and you're rejecting me because of how your brother feels?"

Joe stood there, letting her yell at him. Her face was turning red and he could have sworn she was going to burst into tears any second.

"You sure didn't give a fuck how he felt when you fucked me when I was only fifteen years old. Wow, Joe, that's classy."

Joe flinched at her accusations, feeling terrible. Miley continued to scream at him and he just stood there taking it. Everything she was saying was right she was so, so right.

"I can't even believe that- oh," her rant was suddenly cut off by a small squeak from her and the next thing Joe knew she was falling to the floor unconscious.

"Miley!" he yelled, kneeling to the ground to hold her head in his lap, "Miley!" he repeated slapping her face lightly. Her eyes fluttered open slowly. "Miley," he said one last time, relieved, "What happened?"

"I don't know," she said wincing as he helped her up, "My head is killing me."

"Do you want me to get you some Advil or something?" Joe asked her concerned. He didn't know what to make of her passing out, but if she was awake now she had to be fine right? It's not like she blacked out from drinking or anything because she wouldn't have gotten up that quickly.

"Yeah," she said going over to lay down on her bed, "It's in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom."

Joe rifled through the cabinet until he found the orange and white bottle and spilled out the right amount for her. He brought it over to her bedside table and offered her the bottle of water he had never finished. She gulped the pills and the water down gratefully.

"I'm sorry, Joe," Miley said quietly as she buried herself into the sheets, "I'm just upset over the Nick thing. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"No," Joe contradicted her, "It was my fault. I'm sorry about... everything."

Miley yawned. She was feeling extremely drowsy which was weird considering it was barely past five.

"Thanks for coming over... even if you didn't have good intentions, I'm glad someone was here for me," Miley said with her eyes closed, she was slowly drifting into a deep, deep sleep.

"Goodnight," Joe whispered, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before slowly backing out of the room. He contemplated what to do before deciding to leave and then call her later to see how she was doing. She was crazy, Joe thought to himself. She was a wreck waiting to happen. But he didn't know what to do, so he didn't do anything.

**Uh-oh what's wrong with Miley? Hint: Next chapter is called "Hospital Visits"**

**Soo one more chapter and an epilogue. I didn't really plan on doing a sequel but if enough people seem interested, I do have ideas for one.**


	12. Chapter 12: Hospital Visits

**Sorry it's been so long! I hope this chapter is worth it. it's the LAST CHAPTER of this story.**

**Chapter 12: Hospital Visits**

The past week Nick had barely left the house. Actually he hadn't left the house. He spent his time in his room doing nothing. He couldn't even bring himself to light up even though he knew it would dull the pain.

All he could do was sit in his room and mope. He knew he should call Miley or go see her, but he just couldn't get himself up for it. In theory he could imagine himself going to her house and sweeping her off her feet and telling her that none of it mattered, he still loved her. He could be that guy... in theory. But doing it was another thing all together.

"Hey Nick," Joe said poking his head into Nick's room, "I'm going out for a little bit, you need anything?"

Nick turned his head to look at his brother. He looked different. More... put together. Actually, he looked sober. And he was offering to get Nick something? Who was this guy? Definitely not his selfish brother who had slept with the love of Nick's life.

"Nope," Nick said from the bed, "Where you going?"

"Oh, uh, just out..." Joe said cryptically, "Well... better leave now before I'm late!" he said quickly and left the room. Nick just turned his neck to look back at the ceiling, too consumed with thoughts of Miley to even wonder what Joe was up to. All he could see was her body hovering above him and her hair dangling down, touching his chest ever so lightly. It hurt to think about. He sighed and rolled over, praying for sleep to come over him just so he wouldn't have to think.

***

Joe breathed out a sigh of relief as he left Nick's room. Good thing he had turned into a zombie or Joe might have been busted. Nick would definitely not like where Joe was going right now.

He was going to check up on Miley. He had been calling her and texting her occasionally to see how she was doing and every time she had assured him with an "I'm fine" and a slight chuckle. He wasn't convinced. So he had decided to go see her and see for himself.

When Joe got to her house, her car was parked in front so he knew she must be home. He walked up to the front door and pressed the doorbell and waited. After a minute or so he rang it again. He was about to ring it again when the door opened.

Joe's jaw dropped and he quickly tried to cover it up. The girl in front of him was nothing like the Miley he had seen only a week ago.

She was so pale, Joe swore he could see right through her skin to her bluish veins. Her hair was stringy and looked unkempt. But the most alarming thing was her choice of attire. Joe couldn't remember the last time he had seen her in sweatpants. Not even those nice girly kind. Her outfits were always so well put together they looked like she had come off a magazine page. However, today she was swimming in a huge pair of sweatpants, the draw string pulled tight around her waist. The top half of her body was in a engulfed in a sweatshirt that could fit about three girls her size. And to top it all off, it wasn't even cold, in fact it was well over 90 degrees outside.

"Joe?" she said and her voice sounded raspy, like she had been smoking a lot.

"Hey, Miley," Joe said in a false cheery voice. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell her she looked awful even though she did. He opened his arms for a hug and she looked at him as if she didn't know what to do.

Joe stepped into the house and wrapped his arms around her. Miley stiffened and Joe noticed. He also noticed how _thin _she was. His arms could go all the way around her and then some. And if he was correct he could feel her hip bones jabbing into his sides.

"What are you doing here?" Miley asked, clearing her throat. She closed the door behind both of them.

"What are you doing in sweats?" he shot back at her.

"I'm cold," she said unconvincingly. Truth be told, she felt like she was fat. None of her clothes fit. She was disgusting. No matter how many times she had made herself throw up in the past week (and trust her, it was a lot) it made _no difference._ Everything she had tried on had made her feel huge so she had thrown on some of her dad's old stuff. At least she felt tiny in them.

Joe decided to ignore the fact that she was blatantly lying. For now, anyway.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked politely. Even during a breakdown, Miley couldn't help that she was brought up well.

"I'll have a water."

Miley went to the fridge to get the water and Joe took the opportunity to look at her again. Now that he thought about it she looked a lot thinner than she did before. And she certainly hadn't been large by any means before. Joe had been living in LA for the past few years so he knew a thing or two about eating disorders, but he didn't think Miley would have one. What did she have to be insecure about?

"Want to go out to lunch?" Joe asked casually, just to gauge her reaction. She looked worried for a second and then it quickly passed.

"No, thanks. I just ate," she said with a tight smile, "But there's stuff here if you want something..."

"Nah," Joe said, his mind working overtime, "I just thought you might be hungry."

"Why?" she asked him sharply. Defensive. She was showing every sign of having something to hide and Joe was pretty sure he knew what it was.

Joe shrugged and took a sip from the water bottle while Miley shifted uncomfortably in her spot. He put the bottle back down on the granite counter top.

"Come here," he said casually. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He felt this urge to help her, to make things right. He felt like had screwed things up for Nick and Miley and he felt responsible for both of their coping mechanisms. However, Nick's weren't as life threatening as Miley's could potentially be.

Miley walked towards him cautiously as if she was scared of what he was going to do. Once she was within arms reach Joe grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. She flinched in surprise, but made no effort to get away.

Joe brought his hands to the bottom of her sweatshirt and slowly began to lift it. Her eyes flashed with panic and she tried to pull away, but Joe held onto her tightly.

He gasped when the sweatshirt came over the top of her sweatpants. Her hipbones jutted out into space and he was pretty sure he could see a vague outline of her ribs. He couldn't believe it was this bad in only a week.

Joe looked into her eyes, she looked scared and nervous, like a kid who was caught doing something wrong and knew she was about it get it. She no longer made the effort to pull away.

"Miley..." Joe said in a strained voice. He didn't even know what to say.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Miley... you need to eat," Joe said sternly this time.

"I do eat," she argued, "I eat all the freaking time. It's like the only thing I can do anymore! I'm disgusting. No wonder Nick didn't want me!"

"Do you throw up after you eat?" Joe asked her, deciding to tackle one problem at a time. First her eating disorder, than her issues with Nick.

Miley was silent.

"You need to stop, Miley," Joe said, putting his hands on her shoulders and shaking her slightly. She looked up at him again, but this time anger burned in her blue eyes.

"You think it's so easy!" Miley yelled suddenly, "You think it's as easy as saying 'Miley, you have to stop'. I know I have to stop! But I can't! Everything about this places makes me feel suffocated! My parents are fighting non-stop, Nick's gone, Aaron's off with Alex all the time, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Everyone acts like me coming back is the best thing ever when it's not! It's terrible!"

Everything Miley was feeling was coming out now. She wasn't holding anything back. Joe stared at the girl he had known his whole life in shock. Never in his life had he seen her so angry, so broken, so real and raw.

"I only came back because Aaron wanted me to! It was supposed to be good for me, my therapist said, but clearly she was wrong! Nothing's better, everything's worse. I should have never come home!"

Joe stared at her in shock. It took him a moment to realize that suddenly her eyes were going wide and her hands were clasping at her throat.

"I can't breathe!" she choked out and Joe's blood went cold, "Help," she whispered softly before her knees gave out. Joe reached out to grab her and they both fell to the floor.

"Miley!" Joe called, holding her face in his lap. He slapped her face gently, "Miley! Wake up!"

Her breathing was shallow and unsteady and Joe began to panic. He reached frantically for his cell phone and dialed the number quickly.

"Hello, you've reached 9-1-1, what's wrong?"

"My friend!" Joe yelled into the phone, "My friend passed out and I don't know what to do! Please help..."

"The ambulance is on it's way," the calm voice on the other end said, "Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened..."

***

Alex laughed out loud at something Aaron had said and swung their intertwined hands back and forth.

The couple was currently at the local mall shopping, but more importantly, spending time with each other. The past week they had been completely inseparable. They spent all of their free time doing whatever. Aaron had even braved baby sitting Alex's half sister just to spend time with her.

As they walked through the mall, Alex didn't even notice the jealous glares that all the other girls were giving her. She didn't bother to make sure that every guy within ten feet had his eyes on her. She only needed one boy's attention and she was currently captivating it with her giddy disposition.

She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy and carefree, but it was definitely before her mom had died. After that she had been scared to let anyone in, scared that they would leave her, but Aaron had proved himself and she was so happy he did.

"Soo, what would the lady like to eat?" Aaron asked in a fake aristocratic voice.

"Hmm," Alex replied in a similar tone while trying to hold back a giggle, "How about we go the fabulous Micky D's?"

"That sounds smashing," Aaron said and Alex burst into laughter. Aaron smiled down at her. Her giggle had to be the cutest thing he had ever heard. He loved making her laugh like that.

The two of them got their food and then settled down at one of the tables at the crowded food court. People around them were buzzing with noise, but they only noticed each other.

"So..." Aaron said, "When do you leave for LA?"

Alex frowned. It made her sad that her and Aaron had just gotten together and she was leaving soon. Aaron had been accepted into Princeton and would be attending Pre-law school that fall. Alex was still going to pursue her dream of acting by moving to LA and trying to book gigs. She had found an apartment and was set to move in in July.

"The apartment's open at the end of July," Alex said sadly, "That's only a few weeks away..."

Aaron caught on to her sad vibes and quickly made a move to comfort her.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time," he told her reaching across the table to hold her hand. He was really upset too, but he didn't want her to know that. It would only make it harder for both of them. If only he had decided to go to a West Coast school, but his parents were happy with Princeton and he knew in the long run he would be too.

If only there was a way to make more time for them. It seemed too soon to let their relationship become a long distance one, they were still in the beginning and although they both really liked each other, it was hard to believe that their relationship could last over 3000 miles apart.

"You're really special, you know that, right?" Alex asked her boyfriend, squeezing his hand.

"So are you, Alex Russo," Aaron replied with a smile. He was still amazed that he had found this amazing girl while visiting a friend in New Jersey. What were the odds of that?

They both just stared at each other, content with the silence and content with just being with each other.

That was, until their moment was interrupted by the sound of Aaron's phone ringing. He rolled his eyes and took it out of his pocket. Shock filled his face when he read the name on the Caller ID. He quickly pressed send.

"Hello?" he asked confused, while Alex looked at him with just as much confusion. She had no idea who it was.

"Oh, my God, what happened?"

Alex tensed. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. The concern in his voice was sincere and it frightened Alex.

"Of course, I'll be down there right away, Mrs. Stewart," Aaron said into the phone in a reassuring voice.

Stewart? As in Miley Stewart? Alex became twice as curious as Aaron hung up the phone.

He took a deep breath, "Miley's in the hospital."

Alex gasped, she was not expecting that at all, "Is she okay?" She was surprised to realize she really was worried and concerned about the girl. She looked at Aaron expectantly.

"I don't know," he said with a worried look on his face, "I have to go down there..." he said distraught.

"You go," Alex said quickly without another thought, she squeezed his hand comfortingly, "I'll find a ride home from someone else, seriously don't worry about it. Go see her. Let me know what happens."

Alex made a move to get up and gather her things, but Aaron grabbed her arm. His beautiful blue eyes stared deeply into her dark ones. Alex was surprised to see how vulnerable they looked and she instantly melted at the sight of them.

"Please come with me," he begged of her. He needed some sort of support and he wanted it from her.

Alex hesitated only a second, after all, what was the worst that could happen?

"Of course," she said with a smile and he faintly smiled back at her before getting up as well and leading them out of the mall.

***

Joe scrolled down his call log in his phone. The hospital had already called Mr. and Mrs. Stewart and they were back talking with Miley's doctor already. Joe had debated whether or not he should call Nick before deciding that he did _not _want to get pummeled by his little brother again, so he should just call and let Nick make the decision whether or not to come.

"Hello?" Nick muttered sleepily into the phone. Joe had thought it would never stop ringing.

"Hello," Joe said anxiously unsure how to tell him.

"Joe, I was sleeping," Nick said, still laying in bed. He sat up slowly, and stared at the clock. It had only been like an hour since Joe had left, what could he want?

"Nick... I'm at the hospital..."

"What?!" Nick asked, standing up, "And you're calling me? Isn't this the kind of thing mom and dad should be handling?!" Nick asked frantically.

"Not me..." Joe said, getting choked up thinking about how Miley had just collapsed to the floor. How scared she had looked when she said she couldn't breathe. And how fragile and un-Miley-like she had looked hooked up to all the monitors in the ambulance.

"Who?" Nick asked worriedly. _Don't say Miley, don't say Miley _Nick silently prayed. It couldn't be Miley.

"Miley..." Joe managed to get out, a dry sob escaping from his mouth.

"Fuck," Nick cursed under his breath, and began to look around for his pants. The worst possible situations ran through his mind. Miley mangled up in a car crash, her body broken. Miley shot in the head, bleeding on the floor. "What happened?" Nick managed to ask, while pulling on a pair of jeans that were probably dirty, not that he cared at this point.

"I just-" Joe said, trying not to cry, he was a man after all, "I was at her house, and she was yelling, and I don't know she said she couldn't breathe and then she just kind of fell..."

Nick was scared hearing Joe talk like that. He knew it must have been bad if Joe was worried. It didn't even cross Nick's mind to wonder why Joe was with Miley. Nick grabbed his keys off his dresser and started running down the stairs.

"I'm on my way, Joe... If anything happens call me right away, okay?" Nick said, running out he door and into his car.

"Okay..." Joe agreed, "I'll see you when you get here, bye."

"Bye," Nick said hanging up. He quickly started his car and backed out of the driveway.

Laws were not on his mind as he drove to the hospital. He probably made it there faster than most of the ambulances did. He rushed into the emergency room and saw Joe there, sitting in a chair with his head buried in his hands.

"Joe!" Nick called from across the room and rushed over there. Joe looked up at him and Nick could see that his eyes were red and squinty which meant he was trying really hard not to cry.

"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Stewart? Where's Miley? How is she?" Nick demanded, sitting down next to Joe.

"They're talking to her doctor, they wheeled Miley into a room as soon as she got here. They were sticking her with needles and IVs in the ambulance... I haven't heard about her since."

"Oh, my God," Nick said worriedly, glancing back into the hospital as if he would catch a glimpse of her.

"I'm so sorry," Joe said, "It's all my fault..."

"What happened?" Nick asked looking at his brother curiously. He had never seen Joe so beat up about something, except maybe sleeping with Miley.

"I went over her house to check on her, after, you know, your break up. She was like going insane, Nick. I should have known something was wrong... she was smoking, drinking, doing stupid shit. I should have said something..."

Nick stayed silent and waited for his brother to continue.

"Then I went over again today to check on her again... and my God, Nick, I could like feel her bones when she hugged me. She was so tiny, I don't even know how she could stand up. How could she lose that much weight in a week? So I kind of implied that she had an eating disorder..."

Nick's eyes filled with tears. No, not Miley. Not his smiley Miley. She was gorgeous and perfect. How could she possibly have an eating disorder? Those were for crazy people who thought they were fat. Miley couldn't be like that... could she?

"... and she just started freaking out and then next thing I know she's telling me she can't breathe, and then she just collapsed, so I called an ambulance."

Nick just sat there shaking his head slightly. Joe wondered if he even realized what he was doing.

"I'm sorry," Joe offered. Nick seemed to snap out of his trance.

"It's okay," Nick said, patting Joe on the back awkwardly, "It's going to be okay. _She's_ going to be okay," he tried to say it with confidence, but his voice shook a little.

The brothers sat in silence for almost five whole minutes. Both of them were lost in thoughts of Miley and both of them were so scared they would lose her. Joe because he knew he would always blame himself and Nick because he hadn't gotten a chance to reconcile with her.

"I'm sorry..." Joe said again, turning to look at Nick warily. He had to get this off his chest.

"I told you-"

"No," Joe interrupted, "For breaking the promise..." he whispered.

Nick let out a sigh, "Nothing happened, right?"

"No..." Joe said, still wary of what Nick was going to do. He was definitely acting too calm for Nick.

"Well, I'm just glad you were there to call for help," Nick said with a sigh. He realized there was nothing he could do about it. In even just the short amount of time he had seen Miley he had been growing up and maturing.

The brothers smiled at each other and a sort of understanding passed between the two of them. Everything was going to be okay as long as they believed it.

Just then a frantic Aaron ran into the Emergency Room waiting area, dragging along a hesitant looking Alex. He walked straight up to the front desk and dropped his hands onto the counter.

"I'm here for a Miley Stewart!" he said loudly and the nurse working at the desk looked up at him wide eyed.

"Sir, I can't-"

"I need to know how she is!" Aaron demanded while Alex stood there feeling out of place.

"Sir, please go take a seat over there with the other gentlemen waiting for her... her parents are talking to the doctors now, they should be out shortly."

Aaron groaned in frustration then turned to where the nurse was pointing. His eyes narrowed as they landed on Joe and Nick. What the hell were they doing there? _They_ were the ones who had caused this mess. He had no doubt in his mind that Miley was once again in the hospital for her eating disorder. A tiny part of him was itching with guilt, knowing that he had left her on her own for the past week when he should have been watching her more carefully, but it was easier to blame the two guys standing in front of him.

"What are you two doing here?" Aaron asked them harshly. Alex appeared next to him and slid her fingers between his, trying to get him to relax.

"Obviously, we're here for Miley," Nick said standing up to face the taller boy.

"You don't deserve to be here," Aaron said bitterly, "You're the reason she's in the hospital to begin with, asshole... in fact, both of you are."

"You knew!?" Joe asked, standing up as well, "You knew about her... _condition_ and you just left her all on her own?"

Aaron's face turned red. He was pissed that Joe had just called him out on the one thing he was trying to hide. He clenched his hands into fists, but realized that Alex's small hand was still in his. He had to keep it calm for her sake.

"At least I didn't-" Aaron started angrily, but was soon interrupted by a female voice.

"Oh Aaron! Thank goodness you're here," Mrs. Stewart said, running across the waiting room to him. Her eyes were red and it was obvious she had been crying. She saw Joe and Nick standing there.

"Thank you so much, Joe!" Mrs. Stewart said, tearing up again, "If you weren't there I don't know what would have happened..."

Joe looked down at the floor embarrassed, "It's no problem, I'm just glad I was there."

"How's Miley?" Nick interrupted the pleasantries. He needed to know now or he might just die with worry.

"Nick," Mrs. Stewart said with a huge smile, "Miley will be so glad to see you," obviously she had no idea what had gone on between the two of them, "She's awake now. She had a panic attack brought on by stress and her, uh, bulimia," she whispered, as if it was hard for her to admit that her daughter wasn't perfect.

"You guys can go see her, but only one at a time. How about you go first, Joe? Since you were the one who was there. It's room 6."

Joe nodded curtly and headed back down the hallway into the hospital.

"I'll go next," Aaron said aggressively, looking at Nick as if daring him to argue. Nick shrugged his shoulders. Now that he knew she was okay, he could wait to see her. In fact, he was almost scared to see her.

Joe, on the other hand, practically ran to her room. He nearly choked up again at the sight of her laying in the bed looking so tiny, it reminded him of a baby bird. Not that he had ever actually seen one, but what he imagined one would be like.

"Miley," he said relieved as he saw she was up and well. Or at least as well as she could be considering the circumstances.

"Hey Joe," she whispered. The IV they had put in in the ambulance was still in her hand, feeding her the nutrients she had been denying her body for the past week.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her and then felt like smacking himself. What a dumb question.

"Stupid," she answered honestly with a little laugh. The corner of Joe's lips turned up slightly, at least she was well enough to make a slight joke, "But other than that... just a little headache and kind of tired."

"That's good..." Joe trailed off nervously. He had a feeling they should have a serious talk or something, but he didn't know what to say.

"I don't blame you," Miley blurted out. Apparently she did know what to say, "This is my problem, not yours. You can't control how I handle things."

Joe nodded.

"I'm gonna go get help," Miley said with a sigh, "The doctor said there's a place I can go where there's girls like me. I'm going to beat this."

"I know you can," Joe said encouragingly and smiled at her. She smiled back, this time it was a full smile, not a fake one.

"Thanks," Miley said sincerely.

"Keep in touch, okay?" Joe asked her. He wanted to know that she was going to be okay. She was a great girl even if she had hit a few bumps in the road.

"Yeah, I will..." Miley assured him, "And thanks, you know, for being there."

"No problem," Joe said, giving her a tiny hug, "Take care, Miley."

"You too, Joe," Miley replied at as Joe left her tiny room. She had a feeling that they were good now. The past was the past and her and Joe couldn't change what happened between them, but they could let the memories fade because they were no longer relevant to either parties. She had one down.

The five minutes Nick had to wait with Aaron and Alex was agonizingly slow. Aaron was obviously tense and Alex was trying to soothe him making Nick feel like the awkward one out as she whispered comforting words into his ear.

Luckily for him though, Joe only saw Miley for a few minutes before coming back out. Aaron got up almost immediately, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling her along with him.

He would have laughed at the thought of Alex going to see Miley if he wasn't so nervous about going to see her next.

"How was she?" Nick asked Joe, twiddling his thumbs.

"Thin," Joe said, letting out a humorless chuckle, "Tired, but I think she'll get through it."

Nick nodded. He didn't know what else to say. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was sick that it was there, making it painfully obvious to everyone in the room how long it had been since they had seen their loved one. Each second seemed to be passing extremely slow to Nick. One more second without her. Two more. Three more. Each one felt like a year and all Nick could do was wait.

***

"I'll wait out here," Alex said, as they neared the door to Miley's hospital room. Sure, she had been worried about whether she would be okay or not, but that was just human instinct. As much as Miley annoyed her, she didn't want her to _die, _but she didn't exactly want to visit her in the hospital. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be welcome anyway.

Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but he saw the extreme discomfort on Alex's face. He nodded and let go of her hand.

"I'll just be a few minutes, okay?" he told her and pecked her lightly on the lips, letting her know that yes, he was concerned about Miley, but he loved Alex now. He disappeared into her room and Alex felt strangely content. She thought she might feel jealous or upset about his concern for her, but she didn't. She thought it was charming how much he cared. He was an all-around caring guy and she loved that about him. She smiled at the idea of loving him... she could get used to it.

Meanwhile, Aaron walked into Miley's hospital room. Flashbacks of the last time he had seen her in the hospital came to mind. There was all the same equipment, the same IV attached to her arm, the same pale face, just a little bit older.

"Hey," Aaron whispered. He didn't know why. It just seemed inappropriate to be loud in the quiet, white room.

"Hi," Miley answered weakly from the bed. Aaron rushed over and hugged her gently. She felt so frail. How had he not seen how bad it was?

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling away from her. He pushed a stray hair off her face, "I'm so, so sorry. I should have been there. I should have-"

"It's okay," Miley said, "It's not your fault."

"I feel like it is," Aaron admitted to her.

"I think I need to learn to control myself," Miley said wisely, "I need to learn a better way to deal with everything."

Aaron nodded, amazed at how mature she had just sounded. Maybe this was only a tiny relapse that would only help her overcome her disorder in the long run.

"Is he here?" Miley asked and Aaron knew exactly who she was talking about.

"Yeah," Aaron said with a sigh, "He's in the waiting room."

"I figured Joe would call him."

"You don't have to talk to him," Aaron told her soothingly. Her perfect face looked so distraught he just wanted to protect her even though he knew he couldn't.

"But I do," she said with a weak smile. She knew that she had to talk to him sooner or later and now seemed like the only time, "Send him in."

Aaron grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before placing a soft kiss on her forehead, "Everything's gonna be okay,"

"I hope so," Miley replied, "I hope so..."

***

Nick's head snapped up as he heard footsteps. sure enough it was Aaron.

"Your turn, bro," was all he said before him and Alex left the hospital. Nick turned to look at Joe who was still sitting there.

"Go man," Joe said, patting him on the back and nodding towards Miley's room, "Go get the girl."

Nick smiled and got up, walking with a new confidence. He pictured her face in the sun when they were at the beach together, when she was smiling and dancing in the sand. He began to walk faster, until he was almost running. He made it to room number six and walked it.

Nick wasn't prepared for the sight in front of him. There was Miley looking so completely different from that day on the beach. She had always been thin, but she had definitely had curves. Now she seemed shapeless to Nick. Her hair was pulled back and her face was makeup free.

And she was pale. So pale her skin almost looked translucent. She was hooked up to monitors and had an IV sticking out of her hand. She would have scared most people off.

But not Nick. Nick rushed to her and gave her a huge tight hug, ignoring the fact that she felt frail. He hugged her like he would always hug her.

Miley let herself get engulfed by his arms. He was the first person to really hug her since she was in the hospital. Everyone else gave her these half, awkward hugs, as if they thought she was going to break in half. Okay, sure, she was thin, but she wasn't going to snap.

"Thanks," she said as he let go and took a seat next to her.

"For what?" Nick said confused.

"For really hugging me, like I'm a normal person," Miley told him sincerely. He looked tired, his hair was rumpled and he had bags under his eyes. She suddenly realized that he had been taking their breakup hard too.

"Anytime," Nick said with that charming smile. He would do anything to make her happy. He hoped that this could be a fresh start for both of them. He took her small hand in his and intertwined their fingers.

They sat in silence for a while just taking each other in. They were still new and awkward and had things to work out, but for right now, they just wanted to enjoy a little time as best friends, like they used to be.

"I'm sorry," Nick finally said, breaking the silence. Miley opened her mouth to say something, "It was so stupid of me to explode like that... I just didn't know what to think... you and Joe... and, no offense, but that wasn't the best time to bring it up..."

"It's okay," Miley told him. She just wanted things to be good between them. She didn't want it to be awkward especially because they would both be attending Yale soon.

"It's not okay, Miles," Nick said with a sad smile, "You're in the hospital."

Miley closed her eyes for a second. She felt so guilty. She had three boys visit her and her parents and all of them had blamed themselves. Why couldn't they understand that it wasn't their fault? It was hers. This was the person she had become. If there was one thing she had learned in therapy, it was that she couldn't control the people around her, but she could control her reactions to them. She had just... lost control for a little bit.

"I was so scared..." Nick confessed, rubbing her hand with his thumb.

"I'm going to go get help," she said opening her eyes again, "I'll be gone until Yale starts."

"You're... leaving?" Nick said in disbelief. How could she be leaving him again? Just when he wanted to reconcile and be with her again. Sure, it was less than two months, but still. It didn't make it any easier to comprehend.

Miley nodded.

"You can't leave."

"Excuse me?" Miley said, taken aback. She was doing this because she needed help and he was telling her not to go?

"I need you to stay here," Nick said firmly, "I love you, Miley. I don't want to let you go."

"I need _help_, Nick," Miley told him, narrowing her eyes, "I need this Nick."

"I'll help you," Nick pleaded, "We'll get over it together, you can go to therapy here, we can be together..."

"You don't even know me," Miley said angrily, letting go off his hand to cross her arms. He had no right to ask her to stay. He had hurt her.

"What are you talking about?" Nick laughed, "I've known you from the second you were born. I've known you forever."

"No..." Miley said slowly, as if talking to a child, "The last time you knew me, we were fourteen and I still had braces."

Nick looked at her in shock. Somehow it had never occurred to him that she wouldn't just let him back into her life. And what she was talking about? Of course he knew her. He knew her better than anyone else. They had been best friends since she was born. They used to take baths together for Christ's sake.

"So?" Nick asked, "I still know you..."

Miley shook her head, "You don't know anything about me. You didn't know about my... my bulimia, and you didn't know about Aaron and I and you don't know about my parents and how they're inches away from a divorce..."

"Miley... I love you."

"You don't love me, Nick, you loved a little naive girl who doesn't exist anymore," Miley continued, tears filling her eyes, "I'll never be that girl again... there are just things you don't understand. I've changed. You've changed. You can't love me because you don't even know me. And you didn't even care..."

"I care, Miley, I care!" Nick insisted. He was scared of what she was implying, was she saying she didn't love him anymore? That she didn't want them to be together. How could Miley, his Miley, be saying that?

"You didn't," Miley said and the tears started to fall.

"Miley..." Nick said quietly, he didn't want to admit it, but tears were filling his eyes too.

"Don't Nick..."

"Miley, please," Nick begged, "We can talk about this... Come on. Tell me anything."

Miley just shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Tell me!" Nick tried to cup her cheek, but she moved her face away, "Tell me about your parents, Miley... what's going on with them? Tell me about the bulimia. Please... Miley... Please tell me anything, just don't tell me you're done with me..."

He couldn't hide it any longer, hot tears were running down his face. He couldn't be losing her forever. This couldn't be the end.

"I don't know, Nick..." Miley told him honestly, she thought she had loved him, but what did she know? He had changed too, it went both ways. She didn't know who this Nick was either, "Look... I'll be gone by tomorrow. I can't avoid you forever, but for now please just go, Nick."

Nick walked away from Miley, stopping at the door to look back at her one time. They held each other's gaze for a second before Nick turned around and left the room, closing the door softly.

The second it was closed, Nick leaned against the door and slid down it onto the floor, his legs sprawled out in front of him. He broke down, burying his face into his hands. It was true, he didn't know the first thing about her anymore. Was he still the same as he was when they were fourteen? No, he wasn't. The only thing that he had in common with the fourteen year old Nick was that he still loved Miley. Or he thought he did. He didn't know anymore.

On the other side of the door, Miley was crying too. She had just let Nick walk out the door. Why did she do it? She needed some time for her, without the distraction of Nick or Aaron or anyone else. She wanted to get better, she wanted to prove that she could beat her bulimia for good. Maybe one day her and Nick could be friends again, or even more than that. She had to learn to love herself though, before she could ever love him or let herself be loved by him. She didn't know if that would ever happen and he didn't know if she would ever be ready, butwWhat both of them did know, was that they both had two months apart to grow up and mature.

**Was it worth it? I hope so :) Not sure if I like how I portrayed the ending... let me know what you think.  
**

**So... there's an epilogue and then there might be a sequel. But in all honesty, this is my least reviewed story, so unless like a lot of people want me to do a sequel, I probably won't. So it's kind of early to decide if you want a sequel or not yet, but I'll ask again after the epilogue**.

**& if you haven't already, please vote in the poll on my profile!**


	13. EPILOGUE

**SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER!!! So, this is short, but it's supposed to be like that. It takes places after Miley's 2 months at a rehabilitation center and after Alex and Aaron have already said Good-bye to each other.**

Alex walked up the stairs to her apartment after a long day full of auditions and interviews. Not for the first time, she wished that her building had an elevator, but she was lucky that she had even gotten something so she knew she shouldn't complain. By the time she reached the fifth floor she was all hot and sweaty and the summer dress she was wearing was sticking to the back of her knees. She couldn't wait to get inside and get a nice shower.

Alex put her key into the door and opened it. She was immediately greeted with the sight of a huge bouquet of red roses.

She gasped in surprised and went to look for some kind of card. It didn't even occur to her to wonder how it had gotten in her apartment. After thoroughly searching the bouquet and not finding anything she picked it up and brought it into her small kitchen.

"Hey," an all too familiar voice said. Alex jumped in surprise and dropped the vase of the floor, where it shattered into thousands of tiny crystals. But neither of the two people in the room cared.

"Aaron," Alex said quietly as if he would disappear if she talked too loud. Standing in front of her was Aaron. His brown hair had grown out slightly, making him look a little more boyish and more California. His blue eyes sparkled as they landed on her. In his True Religion jeans and Calvin Klein white t-shirt he looked as gorgeous as ever. Her heart began to race.

He stepped forward, not even noticing the glass on the ground. When he finally reached the dark haired girl he wrapped his arms around her. In that moment, Alex knew it was real, it wasn't a dream. He was really here. No one else, not even a dream, could make her feel the way she felt in his arms.

She threw her arms around his neck and they both took a minute to just embrace each other, letting their bodies communicate without words.

"What are you doing here?!" Alex asked incredulously. She pulled away from him slightly so she could see his face, but didn't remove her arms from around him. The last she had heard he was supposed to be moving into his dorm at Princeton today. They still talked occasionally and he had promised to visit later in the year, but what was he doing here now?

"Coming to see you, duh," Aaron said with that special sparkle in his eye. Only she could do this to him.

"Why? What about Princeton?"

"Princeton can wait," Aaron said with a smirk on his face.

"Aaron!" Alex practically yelled, "You can't just give up Princeton to be here! You need to be there today!"

"Relax," Aaron said with a chuckle, "I talked it over with my parents. We realized that while Princeton was what _they_ wanted it isn't what I wanted."

"So what do you want?" Alex asked him softly. She looked into his blue eyes and felt like she knew the answer already.

"You," he said simply before leaning in to finally kiss her on the lips. After a few moments of kissing she pulled away with a smile on her face.

"I'm taking the semester off, then I'm going to apply at UCLA," Aaron explained, "We have a good thing... and I'm not ready to give it up."

"Good, because I'm not either," Alex replied, "Just once more question... how the hell did you get in my apartment?"

Aaron smirked, "Apparently, you talk about me A LOT to your landlord and have even showed her pictures. She knew who I was right away and let me in."

Aaron laughed and Alex blushed profusely until Aaron pulled her close again to give her a kiss and suddenly nothing else seemed to matter except they were together.

***

Nick took a step onto the green lawn and inhaled the fresh air. It was already crisp with the promise of fall. He had just finished putting his stuff in his room. He was sharing a suite with three other guys. He had met the two guys who were staying in one of the bedrooms, they had been buddies in high school and seemed to have their own thing going. He hadn't yet gotten to meet his own roommate though as he had basically just thrown his stuff down and rushed out of the suite.

He scanned the grounds in front of him for a glimpse of the girl he had been dying to see for the past two months.

Nick smiled when he finally saw a flash of her signature curls which were styled to perfection. She was wearing a white and dark pink plaid Chanel skirt that tapered off and ended just above her knee with a white blouse. She was struggling to pull her two trunks which also had several bags stacked on top of them.

"Hello," Nick said smoothly as he sidled up next to her. Her eyes lit up in recognition and a small smile graced her lips. It was all Nick could do not to kiss her. She opened her arms for the friendly hug she always gave people she was familiar with.

But instead of hugging her, Nick surprised her by sticking out his hand to her.

"I'm Nick Lucas, it's my first year here, you are?"

Miley's lips turned up into a small smile again and Nick felt his heart race. Now if only he could coax her real Miley-smile out of her.

"Miley Stewart," she said grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly. Fireworks seemed to be erupting from their locked hands, at least Nick thought so.

"Well, Miss Miley... would you do me the honor of letting me help you with your bags?" he offered seeing as she had been struggling with them before.

"I would like that," she said and one of her real smiles, the ones that Nick lived for, crossed her face. Nick looked down and smiled as he took one of her trunks. Already, they were making progress.

"So, Miley, tell me about yourself," Nick said. This, of course, had been his goal all along. Start back as friends and work their way from there. He still had high hopes for them, he still believed they belonged together. But he also knew that their relationship that past summer had been idealized and rushed.

"Well," Miley started as they both began to walk, "I'm from a town in New Jersey, a suburb of New York, but I went to boarding school for high school. I'm a Sagittarius and I'm also a recovering bulimic..."

Nick couldn't contain his smile as she continued to rattle on about her life. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to be best friends again. He wanted to be there for her. He just wanted to love her. Sometimes life doesn't give you a second chance, but Nick knew that in the next four years he would have a chance to prove himself again to Miley.

**So, basically this whole story was based around that last scene with Nick and Miley :) I started writing this during Christmas Break last year, without even thinking about posting it on FF, but I'm so glad I did. I wasn't planning on a sequel when I started, but I might write one. It wouldn't include Alex & Aaron (but new characters would take their place) and it would be based on Nick and Miley at college. I won't start it though unless there's a lot of support and definitely not until I finish Back to the Start (which will hopefully be soon) because I have waaaaay too many stories going on right now haha**

**Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, I really appreciate it.**** I hope you all enjoyed it, it's by far my fave story I have written so far, it's a little more grownup/serious than most of my other stories & I like it for that reason. **

**THANK YOU! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST.  
**


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